When a marriage breaks down, belongings are often left behind in the matrimonial home: jewellery, cash, gifts, sometimes property papers. Knowing what the law says you own, and how to get it back, makes a real difference.
What is stridhan?
Stridhan is property that belongs to a woman absolutely. It includes:
- jewellery, cash and gifts given to her before, at or after the wedding, by her own family, her in-laws, relatives or friends;
- gifts from her husband;
- her own earnings and anything bought with them;
- property she inherits or receives under a will or by gift.
In Pratibha Rani v. Suraj Kumar (1985), the Supreme Court held that stridhan remains the woman's own property. If her husband or in-laws keep it, they hold it only in trust for her and must return it when she asks. Refusing to do so can be criminal breach of trust.
Stridhan is not dowry
Dowry is property demanded or given as a condition of the marriage, and it is illegal under the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961. Even so, the Act requires that any dowry received be transferred to the woman; it is hers, not her in-laws'. Stridhan is a voluntary gift, which is entirely lawful.
Who owns other property?
India has no "community property" system. A divorce doesn't automatically split the couple's assets fifty-fifty. Generally:
- property belongs to the spouse in whose name it is held, though who actually paid for it can matter;
- jointly owned property is shared according to each owner's share, by agreement, sale or a partition suit;
- property presented to the couple jointly at or around the wedding can be dealt with by the family court in the divorce case (Section 27 of the Hindu Marriage Act).
Even if a wife doesn't own the home, she may have a right to reside in the shared household under the Domestic Violence Act, and the husband's property is relevant when the court sets maintenance or permanent alimony.
How to reclaim your stridhan
- Make a written demand. List the items and ask for their return, ideally through a lawyer's notice. A refusal or no response is useful evidence.
- Domestic Violence Act. The magistrate can order your stridhan, jewellery and belongings to be returned as part of a residence or monetary order.
- Criminal complaint. Wrongfully keeping stridhan after a demand can be criminal breach of trust under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (formerly Section 406 IPC).
- In the divorce case. Return of stridhan is usually a key term of a mutual consent settlement, and the family court can deal with jointly gifted property.
- Civil suit for recovery of the items or their value.
Evidence that helps
- wedding photographs and videos showing the jewellery and gifts;
- purchase bills, jeweller's receipts and bank withdrawal records;
- a list of gifts, signed by family members who gave them;
- bank locker records, and messages acknowledging the items are with the in-laws.
Practical tips
- If you are leaving the matrimonial home, take your important documents and, where safe, your jewellery.
- Don't sign blank papers or "receipts" for items you haven't actually received back.
- When items are returned, make an itemised list signed by both sides, with photographs or a video.