Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 · Chapter VII: Of the Burden of Proof
Section 118: Presumption as to dowry death
In plain words
When the question is whether a person committed the dowry death of a woman, and it is shown that shortly before her death that person subjected her to cruelty or harassment connected with a dowry demand, the court must presume that person caused the dowry death (as defined in section 80 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023).
A simplified explanation, prepared with AI assistance from the official text below and checked automatically against it for numbers and cross-references. The official text is the law and prevails over this summary. Not legal advice.
Official text
When the question is whether a person has committed the dowry death of a woman and it is shown that soon before her death, such woman had been subjected by such person to cruelty or harassment for, or in connection with, any demand for dowry, the Court shall presume that such person had caused the dowry death.
Explanation.—For the purposes of this section, "dowry death" shall have the same meaning as in section 80 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
Corresponding sections were matched by comparing the wording of both official texts, and for the IPC and BNS, also against a published correspondence table. Wording, punishments and structure often changed, so read both sections before relying on the match.
Source: India Code (indiacode.gov.in), the consolidated text published by the Legislative Department, Government of India. Text as updated on India Code on 25 August 2026. Words in square brackets [ ] were inserted or substituted by later amending Acts, and *** marks words omitted by an amendment. The amendment footnotes are not reproduced here. Official text on India Code.
Supreme Court judgments citing the section 118
No Supreme Court judgment in our database cites this section yet.