Mere harassment not sufficient to find accused guilty of abetting suicide: SC

Holding that mere harassment was not sufficient to find an accused guilty of abetting suicide, the Supreme court has discharged the husband and two in-laws of a woman who died by suicide allegedly after being harassed by them for dowry.

"For a conviction under Section 306 of the IPC, it is a well-established legal principle that the presence of clear mens rea - the intention to abet the act - is essential. Mere harassment, by itself, is not sufficient to find an accused guilty of abetting suicide," a Bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Punjab Varale said discharging the trio from the charges under Section 306 of the IPC (abetment to suicide).

“In cases of alleged abetment of suicide, there must be concrete proof of either direct or indirect acts of incitement that led to the suicide. Mere allegations of harassment are insufficient to establish guilt. For a conviction, there must be evidence of a positive act by the accused, closely linked to the time of the incident, that compelled or drove the victim to commit suicide,” the top court said in its December 10 verdict.

The verdict comes at a time when the wife and in-laws of Bengaluru techie Atul Subhash have been booked for allegedly abetting his suicide.

According to Section 306 of the IPC, “If any person commits suicide, whoever abets the commission of such suicide, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to 10 years, and shall also be liable to fine.”

“On a careful and close consideration of the facts and the material on record in the present case and in light of the law laid down by this court regarding Section 306, IPC, there appears no proximate link between the alleged facts, instances of harassment and her subsequent death by hanging,” the top court said.

“Mere harassment and such issues between the wife and her husband along with the in-laws do not appear to create a scenario where she was left with no option other than to end her life. There is, therefore, absence of mens rea (intention) to instigate suicide of the deceased person,” the Bench held. The woman had committed suicide after 12 years of marriage, it noted.

The top court, however, upheld the charge against the appellants under Section 498-A of the IPC which provides for punishment to the husband or to relatives of the husband of a woman subjecting the woman to cruelty. It directed that they be tried for cruelty charges, which entail a maximum punishment of three-year imprisonment.

The verdict came on an appeal challenging a Gujarat High Court order refusing to discharge a deceased woman’s husband and her two in-laws for allegedly harassing her and driving her to suicide. The case was registered in 2021 under Sections 498-A and 306 of the Indian Penal Code.