A spouse cannot be accused of abetting the suicide of his or her partner merely because there was marital discord between the two, the Bombay High Court (HC) has said while quashing a case lodged against a woman for abetment of her husband’s suicide.
The HC’s Nagpur bench, in an order passed last week, held that matrimonial discord is common in domestic life and suicide cannot be attributed to any of the spouses solely due to a marital dispute.
The court added that there must be instigation or direct incitement from the accused to the victim to end life.
“In such cases, it cannot be held that due to abetment from one partner the other committed suicide,” the court said.
The bench allowed the plea filed by a 49-year-old woman, a teacher by profession, seeking to quash the abetment case filed against her in 2019 by the Amravati Police, news agency PTI reported.
A single bench of Justice Urmila Joshi Phalke said that in the present case, both the husband and the wife had levelled allegations of ill-treatment and abuse against each other, and at most it could be said that the woman might have been the reason for the man’s frustration.
“Such types of discord and differences are common in domestic life and until and unless some guilty intentions are there, it is ordinarily not possible to show that the woman was responsible for the death of her husband,” the HC said.
The court noted that to charge a person with abetment of suicide, the prosecution must prove that the accused played a role in the suicide, encouraged the individual to take their life, or conspired with others to ensure the person committed suicide.
There has to be instigation or direct incitement from the accused, the HC said.
“In order to attract the offence of abetment, there must be mens rea (intention). Without knowledge or intention, there cannot be any abetment,” it stated.
The bench said words uttered by any of the spouses in a fit of anger would not be sufficient to constitute the offence of abetment.
Suicide note held no one responsible, states Bombay High Court
The note left by the man did not reflect that he died by suicide due to abetment by his wife, the court said, adding that it clearly stated no one was to be held responsible for his death.
The couple married in December 1996. The man and his parents had alleged that the woman abused them and also assaulted the man. They said she threatened to commit suicide and implicate them in false cases.
The in-laws further alleged that she had an illicit relationship with another man and would leave the matrimonial home for several days without informing anyone.
In November 2019, the man, reportedly under pressure, committed suicide, after which his parents lodged a case against the woman for abetment.
The woman claimed that she too was physically assaulted and abused by her husband and his parents during the marriage.
The court noted that in the present case, there was marital discord between the couple and allegations of ill-treatment on both sides.
(With PTI inputs)
