Kerala High Court grants bail to Dr. Ruvais accused of abetting girlfriend's suicide with dowry demands

The Kerala High Court on Friday granted bail to Dr. EA Ruvais, who stands charged with abetting the suicide of his girlfriend Dr. Shahana by allegedly making dowry demands. .Justice Gopinath P observed that the continued detention of Dr. Ruvais may not be necessary for the purposes of investigation while granting the doctor bail."The grant of bail to the petitioner should not be seen as the entitlement of the petitioner to claim reinstatement and the same shall be decided only in accordance with the regulations applicable in such situations," the judge added while dictating the order today. .Dr. Shahana, a postgraduate surgery student at Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, recently took her own life because of her family's inability to fulfill the allegedly excessive dowry requests made by Ruvais .Ruvais' family is accused of requesting 150 sovereigns of gold, 15 acres of land and a BMW car from Shahana's family - all demands that Dr. Shahana's family were unable to fulfill.Following the revelation of this incident, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) suspended Ruvais' medical license and he was arrested by the police.On December 7, he was remanded to judicial custody for a period of 14 days.He was charged with offences punishable under Section 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act..Dr. Ravias later approached the High Court for bail. It was argued in Ruvais's bail application that there is no evidence to support the charge under Section 306 IPC, as there was no immediate provocation or instigation for the suicide.He also highlighted his clean record and middle-class background in the bail application.Ruvais asserted that there was no agreement or exchange of dowry between the involved parties and no amount was given or consented to be given.Claiming no formal transaction and no complaints filed by the victim or her relatives, Ruvais argued that the charges under the Dowry Prohibition Act lacked substance.He also contended that his father had told him that the wedding would be conducted only after completing his education but Dr. Shahana was instigating Dr. Ruvais to marry immediately.Ruvais claimed that he denied her request and went by his father’s advice to wait until he completed his education.Another contention in the bail application was that the case was politically motivated and intended to tarnish his image.Ruvais submitted that he had led many agitations against the State government for an increase of stipend and facilities to medical students, due to which the present criminal proceedings were initiated against him..Ruvais was represented by advocate Nireesh Mathew..[Read Order]