Penal Code, 1860 – s.498A, 304B and s.306 r/w. s.34 – Evidence Act, 1872 – s.113 – Victim-deceased committed suicide by hanging herself in her matrimonial house – The deceased was alone at the time of the incident and the appellant No. 2, the husband was not in the house at the time of the incident – The case of the prosecution is that there was a harassment of deceased which was connected to the demand of dowry, which led the deceased to commit suicide:
Held: During the pendency of the appeal, one of the appellants i.e. appellant no. 3 (mother-in-law of the deceased) had passed away and the case against her stands abated – From the evidence which has been placed by the prosecution, there are certain facts that have been proved beyond any doubt which are: (i) That the deceased died within seven years of marriage; (ii) The death was by suicide in her matrimonial house; and (iii) There was harassment at the hands of her in-laws and particularly by the husband; (iv) And that there was marital discord between husband and wife – As far as appellant no.1 (sister-in-law of deceased) is concerned, she is a married woman and at the relevant point of time, admittedly, she was residing with her family at her matrimonial home – There is no specific evidence that has come in the form of any of the prosecution witnesses that may connect appellant no. 1 to the commission of the crime – After going through the evidence of PW-1, PW-3, PW-4 and P16 (who are the brother, father, mother and cousin of the deceased respectively), it becomes clear that the deceased faced cruelty and harassment at the hands of her husband (appellant no.2) which compelled her to commit suicide – However, these witnesses did not state that such cruelty and harassment was in connection with the demand for dowry – Trial Court raised a presumption u/s. 113B of Evidence Act to convict the appellants u/s. 304B of IPC – In the instant case, it has not been proved by the prosecution that the deceased was subjected to cruelty soon before her death in connection with the demand of dowry and hence it is not a case of dowry death u/s.304B of the IPC – After having considered all the relevant aspects of the matter, and the evidence of the prosecution, this Court is of the opinion that a case of abetment of suicide u/s.306 of IPC and cruelty u/s. 498A of IPC is made out against the appellant No. 2, although the offence u/s.304B is not made out and consequently, the conviction of appellant no.2 u/s.304B of IPC is set aside – With respect to the offences u/ss.306 and 498A, the appellant No. 2 is convicted and sentenced to undergo three years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 25000/- on each count – Also, appellant no.1 is acquitted for all the offences. [Paras 4, 9]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Headnotes prepared by: Ankit Gyan. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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