JUDGE WANTS SETTING UP OF COUNSELLING CENTRES FOR COUPLES AND FAMILIES TO CURB DOWRY DEATHS IN J&K

JUDGE WANTS SETTING UP OF COUNSELLING CENTRES FOR COUPLES AND FAMILIES TO CURB DOWRY DEATHS IN J&K

17^th November 2020

The Additional Sessions Court in Jammu called for the setting up of marriage counselling centres in all districts of Jammu and Kashmir to provide marriage and relationship counselling to couples and their families, given the increase in such dowry-related crimes.

The applicant-accused sought anticipatory bail in a case lodged at R. S. Pura Police Station in Jammu under section 304-B/498-A/120B of the Indian Penal Code.

The Court directed that such counselling centres should be embodied with pre-marriage and post-marriage counselling to ensure a harmonious and peaceful resolution of marital misunderstandings between the couple’s families.

The order states that the seriousness of this growing crime in the society; hence, the government should set up marriage counselling centres in every district, where, especially before marriage, the couple along with the family members should be called and given guidance on how to treat each other in a new relationship based on social, moral, and religious codes.