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Court: No direct link proves suicide abetment
22 Mar
Summary
- Businessman acquitted after 12 years in suicide abetment case.
- Court finds harassment alone insufficient for conviction.
- No evidence of accused's intention to instigate suicide found.
A businessman was acquitted by a sessions court after a 12-year legal battle, charged with abetting his partner's suicide. The woman had died by suicide in 2013, reportedly jumping from her 15th-floor apartment in Goregaon. The court determined that harassment alone is not enough to establish guilt for abetting suicide.
The prosecution alleged that the accused harassed the victim due to her HIV-positive status. However, the court emphasized the need for "active or direct action" by the accused, intended to push the victim to end her life. Without proof of this specific intent, known as mens rea, the charges could not stand.
During the trial, the victim's former husband claimed the accused assaulted and harassed her after she learned she was HIV-positive in 2012. He also alleged a forced abortion and obscene messages. However, medical evidence did not support the abortion claim, and the sister's testimony was deemed unreliable by the court.
