SC: Man can be prosecuted for misappropriating streedhan

Reinforcing married women’s right over ‘streedhan’, Supreme Court on Wednesday held that streedhan cannot become joint property of a couple, and a husband has no control over his wife’s assets, which he may use during times of distress but must return to her. Adjudicating a matrimonial dispute over streedhan, a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta said a woman has absolute rights over her streedhan — gifts given to a woman before, during, or after marriage.