I agree with many of the members here, you don’t have to disclose it while filing N400.
But more importantly if there is an FIR filed in India, it make sense to check where the case is?, if it has moved to the court and the court issued a summons and you don’t appear or some one is not representing you, there will be an arrest warrant and it could be a problem if you visit India later. Of course you can change your name and travel using US passport but people ( including the girl and her family) knows you are in town if you are from a small town . Usually these things do not go to court and the cases die after some time. The Indian systems are increasingly wired these days and I do know of cases of foreign citizens arrested based on pending warrants while he was an Indian citizen (but not related to 498a).
While there is a lot of discussion on dowry, keep in mind in many places and communities, it is treated as giving a share of the ancestral property at the time of a girls marriage; some sort of an advance payment of the family estate and the girl do not have any further claim on the ancestral property, that will be divided among the boys. Many times it is not divided exactly equal and it is not legal. Both giving and receiving dowry is an offence, it is not pertain to a religion and there are local variations and depends on which part of India you are from and your cast/tribe/community etc.. your mileage may wary….
But more importantly if there is an FIR filed in India, it make sense to check where the case is?, if it has moved to the court and the court issued a summons and you don’t appear or some one is not representing you, there will be an arrest warrant and it could be a problem if you visit India later. Of course you can change your name and travel using US passport but people ( including the girl and her family) knows you are in town if you are from a small town . Usually these things do not go to court and the cases die after some time. The Indian systems are increasingly wired these days and I do know of cases of foreign citizens arrested based on pending warrants while he was an Indian citizen (but not related to 498a).
While there is a lot of discussion on dowry, keep in mind in many places and communities, it is treated as giving a share of the ancestral property at the time of a girls marriage; some sort of an advance payment of the family estate and the girl do not have any further claim on the ancestral property, that will be divided among the boys. Many times it is not divided exactly equal and it is not legal. Both giving and receiving dowry is an offence, it is not pertain to a religion and there are local variations and depends on which part of India you are from and your cast/tribe/community etc.. your mileage may wary….