Husband Dejected With Marriage Not Proof Of Abetment: Delhi High Court Upholds Wife's Acquittal In Suicide Case
The Delhi High Court has upheld the acquittal of a wife and her family members in a case accusing them of abetting the suicide of the husband, citing lack of evidence and proof.
Justice Neena Bansal Krishna said that it may be a case where the husband was unhappy and dejected with his marriage but no act of abetment was made out against the wife and her family members, either from the suicide note or from the testimony of the deceased's parents.
“The only allegation being made was that the wife, used to threaten the deceased, that he and his family members would be implicated in false dowry case and that she also used to get those threats extended through her brothers. Such vague assertions cannot be sufficient to prove that without there being any specific incident or dates to conclude them to be acts of abetment,” the Court said.
It upheld the trial court order acquitting the wife and her family members and dismissed the appeal filed by the deceased's father.
It was alleged that soon before the deceased committed suicide, he had a fight with his wife. It was alleged further that the wife and her family members used to harass and give them threats about false implication of the husband and his family members in a dowry case.
A suicide note was handed over by the deceased's father to the police after they reached the spot. It was claimed that the wife and her family members harassed and compelled the husband to take the extreme step.
The father and mother of the husband deposed that the wife had done cruelty but also said that she had attempted to commit suicide many a times by trying to burn herself from a gas cylinder and also by consuming acid.
Upholding the acquittal, the Court noted that the testimonies of deceased's parents showed that the wife had certain issues in the matrimonial home and it was she who had been attempting to commit suicide.
“Her attempt to commit suicide, only reflects her mental state and unhappiness, but it establishes no act that can be termed as an act of cruelty towards the Appellant and his family. Admittedly, her alleged acts of cruelty in attempting to commit suicide was never reported by the Appellant (deceased's father) or his family members to the Police,” the Court said.
It added that though the father had claimed a marital discord between the deceased and his wife but no such cogent evidence was brought on record.
“In the absence of any evidence of there being any kind of instigation, encouragement or aiding on the part of the Respondents No. 2 to 6, it cannot be said that they were guilty of any act, which could be termed as abetment to drive the deceased to commit suicide,” the Court concluded.
It further said that in the suicide note, there was no act of incitement on the part of the wife or her family which was proximate to the date on which the deceased committed suicide.
The Court also noted that the suicide note had no date, which created a doubt of it having been written at the time of committing suicide. It added that the Suicide Note neither spelled out any circumstance which could be labelled as abetment on the part of the accused persons nor did it disclose any proximate reason for the suicide.
“There are general allegations of continuous threats of false implication in dowry cases. It may be a case where the deceased was unhappy and dejected with his marriage but definitely, no act of abetment can be made out either from the suicide note or from the testimony of the parents,” it said.
Title: SHIV SHANKAR v. STATE & ORS