1) you can file police complaint under section 406 read with section 498A of IPC for return of her stridhan , continuous acts of cruelty

2) also file DV case before magistrate and seek right to stay in matrimonial home , maintenance, compensation for mental torture undergone by her

3) in respect of police complaint filed by them in response deny that sister is mentally unfit and that marriage was done only after they met the girl and were satisfied that she can lead a normal life

1) you should not admit that mental illness was not disclosed . your defence should be that your sister had completely recovered from illness and was taking some medicines which were orally disclosed before marriage

2) burden of proof is on complainant as he has filed FIR against your family members .

3) you should in turn file 498A/ Dv cases against the husband

Dear Concerned,

From you notes it seems that the History of your sister schizophrenia was not told to the grooms family before the marriage and hence this definitely falls under cheating. Due to this schizophrenia history of your sister your Notes highlights that you agreed to all the terms of the Groom Parents EVEN BEFORE marriage - which is certainly questionable - as whay would you given into demands of such dowry seekers - its better not to marry your daughter/ sister in such house then to give into their demands.

As they have already filed a complaint - it is for sure that they are not willing to continue on this marriage - it is suggested that through a mediator - try to settle this marriage and end up mutually. OR Else you may choose to file Domestic Violence and Dowry Demand and Cruelty related complaints to counter the complaint they have filed. You may succeed subject to the kind of documents you have to prove your claims.

Best of Luck

1. Your sister had schizophrenia before her marriage.

2. did you disclose this fact to the groom or his parents before her marriage?

3. if yes, then do you have any evidence of passing such information to them?

4. If no, then they can file a petition for annulment of marriage and also lodge a police complaint for cheating them.

5. Try to establish they they were informed about the fact before the marriage by handing over copies of her prescription to them.

1. They will be tried for cheating the groom and his family causing serious damage socially, emotionally and financially and if proved might be punished with jail term.

2. So, try to establish that the were informed earlier as suggested in my earlier post.

After we got her home they suddenly lodged a complaint in the police station saying that the girl is mentally unfit and they were forced to marry her .

Can you please tell what can we do now? is there any provision in the law which can help us in this?

There is a supreme court ruling that Schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a treatable, manageable disease, on par with hypertension and diabetes” hence a man can’t dump wife on grounds of schizophrenia.

Temporary ill-health including schizophrenia, a mental illness, which is curable, cannot be a ground for divorce under Section 13 (1) (iii) of the Hindu Marriage Act, the Supreme Court has held nor a police complaint maintainable for the offences of cheating.

In fact the police cannot interfere in this matrimonial dispute.

Any person may have bad health, this is not their fault and most times, it is not within their control.

The husband cannot simply abandon his wife because she is suffering from sickness.” If he felt that she “is still suffering, then she must be given the right treatment. The wife must stick to her treatment plan and make the best attempts to get better.”

You can challenge the police case in case the police is bent upon registering FIR for cheating offences.

A petition can be filed before high court under section 482 for quashing the FIR in case the police is going ahead with the FIR.

Alternately a criminal complaint under section 498a and also for the offences of criminal intimidation, breach of trust, domestic violence may be filed against the husband and his close relatives.

This will put pressure on them to accept her and continue the married life or to face the charges accordingly.

Will my parent's be put behind bars for not disclosing about the disease? Are they liable to pay us back whatever money has been spent in marriage on their demand?

No. Dont worry about this. The police have no power to book such complaints because this is not a criminal offence nor this is an offence to be handled by police.

This is a civil subject and a matrimonial dispute, so the family court only has jurisdiction to entertain any application in this regard.

If they do not want to continue the marriage you can ask them to return all the money spent including the jewels and other stridhan articles that were given to her during marriage.