Hi All, I was engaged to a girl in Mar-15 and I met her only for 15 min and on the same day I was engaged with her. Later on I found that I am not compatible with her. Currently am working as an IT engineer and now I think that I should be married to a girl of my field or of my thinking. I had a discussion with my father he was very upset about my decision but latter he agreed with my decision but his concern is what will happen if they will file a police complaint against me under dowry act and may be I have to loose my job. They have given 50000 in my hands as per ritual during roka only . To be candid In our side dowry amount is also decided before anything is fixed same with us also but we have not asked or received any amount till now as marriage date will be decided in Mar-16. So as of now we have not received any amount from them and neither my father is in contact with them after March nor I am interested to marry. So if I say no will it come under dowry act. Bcoz I don't want to get married to that girl but my family is saying why I respond in yes when I was asked and I did so in pressure as my relatives were gathered for engagement on the same day when I met the girl for the first time. Pls help me out over here . What will be consequences if I would say no and they will try to force us for marriage or will file case under dowry act. My decision is my own and has nothing to do with dowry its 6 month now after engagement and for the last 3 month hardly i had 5-6 phone calls to her. Please advice
1) you can inform the girl parents that you don't want to proceed with marriage
2) return all the gifts received and offer to pay costs of engagement
3) return the cash received
4) send email to that effect to your in laws placing on record that all cash and gifts have been returned
5) your fiancée can file suit for damages if she so desires
6) if false case of dowry harassment is filed deny the allegations and contest the case
1. Since you have not demanded dowry so far you have not committed any crime.
2. You are at liberty to cancel the engagement. The amount given to you during roka should be returned along with all other gifts received against an acknowledgment or through a legal notice.
3. If a false case of dowry is filed against you then you can contest it on merits in the court.
on what basis fiancee can file suit for damages if so desires as in entire 6 months the time i had spent with her is 15 min only, after that I never met her and for last 2-3 month I had only 4-5 phone calls at max. So pls suggest me whatever action she can take on me and from my side what can be done to avoid any police action against me as I want to finish all these things in a polite manner but as it is a matter of prestige in our area so ppl will force you like anything to not to break engagement whether you agree for marriage or not..
1. You must understand that anybody can file any lawsuit against anyone. Whether there is merit in the case or not is a finding which can be delivered by the court only at the culmination of the case.
2. You should apply for anticipatory bail to neutralize her attempts to implicate you in false cases and have you arrested.
1)suit for damages can be filed for loss of reputation by your fiancee on account of breaking of engagement by you
2)Breach of promise to marry would also attract an offence of cheating under S. 415 of the Indian Penal Code. "For instance, if a boy who promises a girl to marry; breaks the promise, it is false representation If, at the time of giving such a promise, he did not intend getting married, then it would certainly amount to cheating”.
It is better to inform her parents about the decision to stop the arrangements for solemnising the marriage immediately than to catch a bus at the 11th hour and face problems.
If you have decided to not to marry her, you can politely convey this decision and arrange to return the money received from them through any of your close relative. If they demand any compensations, you may negotiate the amount and settle the issue amicably instead of stretching the issue to convert it to a legal issue. No doubt they cannot lodge a complaint on dowry demand aspect because the marriage has not take place nor there was anything that they can rely to prove their version. But the embarrassments due to police inquiry may be avoided.
As far as possible try to settle the issues by amicable talks but if their demands are exorbitant, you may ask them to proceed which can be legally challenged based on their claim.
Betrothal r sagai is a contract and it can be cancelled by either party. if it is cancelled by you then you have to pay all the expenses incurred on that event.
In Pursottam vs Pursottam AIR 2009 SC 3456; it has held by the court that if some money has spent on fest or other things, as part of celebration of sagai, the amount to spent may be recovered as special damage.
