The Madhya Pradesh high court has said that words spoken in anger cannot be treated as abetment to suicide and struck down proceedings in a district court against three men accused of driving a farmer to suicide.
On October 29, 2020, Murat Lodhi of Patharia in Damoh district consumed an insecticide at home and in his dying declaration, alleged that one Bhupendra Lodhi had attacked him with a lathi and hurled abuses at him.
Murat said he had lodged an FIR in this regard at Patharia police station and when he returned home after filing the complaint, Rajendra Lodhi and Bhanu Lodhi pressured him to agree to a compromise. He said that they threatened him with dire consequences ifhe didn't agree for a settlement.
Based on this, police registered a case under IPC sections 306 and 34 against Rajendra, Bhupendra and Bhanu for abetting Murat's suicide. The trial court framed charges after which the trio moved high court to seek quashing of charges.
After hearing both sides, the bench of Justice Sujoy Paul referred to earlier Supreme Court orders in similar matters and said that abetting someone’s suicide is a “mental process”. “Words spoken in anger don’t constitute a fit case for abetment of suicide charge against a person or group of persons if the person who is verbally abused or threatened commits suicide thereafter,” the court said, and quashed the charges against the trio.
Quoting an SC judgment in a similar case, the judge said: “Section 107 of IPC makes it obligatory for the prosecution to show and establish the element of instigation. In the case of Sanju (Sanjay Singh Sengar vs State of Madhya Pradesh), the appellant allegedly told the deceased ‘to go and die’. Yet the apex court opined that it does not constitute the ingredient of ‘instigation’. In the instant case, if the story of prosecution is read and believed as such, there is no element of ‘incitement’ or ‘instigation’ on behalf of applicants. Thus, section 306 of IPC is not attracted against the applicant.”
Quoting another SC order, the judge said, “Abetment involves a mental process of instigating a person or intentionally aiding a person in doing a thing. Without a positive act on the part of the accused to instigate or aid in committing suicide, conviction cannot be sustained… In order to convict a person under Section 306 IPC there has to be a clear mens rea (criminal intent) to commit offence. ”
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