Rohan Umak
Bombay HC ruling: The Bombay High Court (HC), in a landmark ruling, held that just marital discord cannot be treated as abetment to suicide, while quashing a case filed against a woman accused of driving her husband to end his life. The Nagpur bench of the HC delivered the order last week, and was presided over by Urmila Joshi Phalke. It observed that disagreements and tensions are common in domestic life and cannot be construed as instigation for suicide.
‘Intent, instigation must be proven,’ rules court
The court maintained that for an offence of abetment to suicide to be established, there must be clear evidence of intent and active provocation. It underlined that mere allegations of ill-treatment or strained relations do not meet the legal threshold. The bench remarked, “To attract the offence of abetment, there must be mens rea (guilty intention). Without the same, there cannot be any abetment.” Further, the court clarified that there must be direct incitement or encouragement by the accused, that leads the victim to die by suicide. In absence of such elements, liability cannot be attributed.
Court junks FIR against 49-year-old school teacher
The ruling came while the court was hearing a petition filed by a 49-year-old woman, a school teacher by profession. She sought to quash a case registered by Amravati Police back in 2019, accusing her of abetting her husband to commit suicide. The bench noted that both spouses had levelled allegations of abuse and ill-treatment against each other during their marriage. The court said, “At best, the woman may have contributed to the man’s frustration, but that alone does not constitute an abetment-to-suicide case.
Hearing the case further, the court noted that the suicide note left behind by the woman’s husband did not blame anyone for the extreme step, further weakening the prosecution’s case.
Bombay HC ruling: Details of the dispute
The couple got hitched in 1996, with the husband’s family alleging that the woman subjected them to threats and abuse, including warnings of false cases.
They also accused her of having an illicit relationship with another person. The woman, however, refuted the claims, alleging that she herself had faced mental and physical harassment by her in-laws. Following the man’s suicide in November 2019, his parents filed an FIR against her for abetting him to commit suicide.
Court clarifies words spoken in anger cannot be criminalised
The court, while concluding the hearing and dismissing the case, said that words spoken in anger or routine marital disagreements cannot be criminalised.
