Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, July 7: High Court in a significant verdict has held that mere sarcastic remarks or harassment of wife by her husband or in-laws would not amount to take step of suicide committed by the wife.
Justice Rajesh Sekhri while upholding the acquittal of accused (husband) by the trial court recorded that there is no illegality much less perversity in the impugned judgment of acquittal which is otherwise being well reasoned and lucid and upheld the same by the dismissing the appeal of state-prosecution.
The prosecution had challenged the judgment of acquittal passed by the court of Additional Sessions Judge on 24.05.2019. It was in the year 2008 the victim-Mumtaza Begum doused kerosene oil and set herself ablaze and subsequently an FIR for abetment of suicide came to be registered in concerned police station holding here her husband (Tariq Hussain) responsible and made the victim to take the extreme step to end her life.
After a full-fledged trail by the court below the trial court has considered and appreciated the prosecution evidence and came to the conclusion that prosecution case is bad for want of substantive independent evidence and has also failed to prove the abetment on the part of the respondent-accused and acquitted him from the charges of abetment to suicide.
“What comes to the fore, from the conspectus of the prosecution case is that the deceased was hyper sensitive to ordinary petulance of matrimonial life. There may be various instances of matrimonial discord between husband and wife and at times wife being constantly taunted and subjected to sarcastic remarks in the house of her in-laws may be driven to commit suicide” court said.
“However, such instances are normal wear and tear of a matrimonial life. In my opinion mere harassment of a wife by her husband or in-laws due to matrimonial discord or sarcastic remarks does not attract Section 306 RPC (abetment of suicide)”, Justice Sekhri recorded.
Justice Sekhri said the courts in such circumstances are expected to assess facts and circumstance of the case as also evidence adduced by the prosecution during the trial with care and circumspection in order to determine whether cruelty alleged to have been meted out to the wife in fact induced her to end her life by committing suicide.
Court with careful scrutiny and critical examination of the facts and circumstances of the case and keeping in view of legal position of law said there is no evidence or material on record wherefrom an inference of respondent-accused having abetted the commission of offence of committing suicide by the deceased.
“There is nothing on record to suggest that respondent -Hussain ever intended or actively participated to abet the commission of suicide by the deceased, therefore, offence under section 306 IPC is not made out and observation of trial court in this regard cannot be faulted with”, Court concluded.
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