Lateefmiyan and Rahimabi vs State of Karnataka

K. Sreedhar Rao, J.—The case of the prosecution is trial the deceased is married to A1. A2 is the mother of A1. The deceased. and accused live together happily for about two months. Thereafter the accused started suspecting the chastity alleging that she has extramarital relationship with another person. In that regard, the accused subjected the deceased to physical and mental torture. The deceased informed her plight with her parents. The deceased was consoled to bear with the circumstances and to wait for good time. The accused continued to inflict physical and mental torture on the deceased. The deceased unable to bear the torture committed suicide by self-humiliation.

The parents on receipt of information of burn injuries on the deceased go to the District Hospital. The Tahsildar, Bidar has recorded the dying declaration of the deceased at exhibit P7 which discloses that the deceased committed suicide on account of physical and mental torture inflicted on the deceased suspecting her fidelity. The parents - PW3 and PW4 have turned hostile. The trial court convicted the accused on the basis of the dying declaration. The doctor has certified the dying declaration is recorded in his presence. Therefore, the conviction recorded u/s 498A is sound and proper.

The provisions of Section 107 and 306 of Indian Penal Code read thus:

Abetment of a thing: A person abets the doing of a thing who:

First - Instigates any person to do that thing;

or

Secondly:- Engages with one or more other person or persons in any conspiracy for the doing of that thing, if an act or illegal omission takes place in pursuance of that conspiracy, and in order to the doing of that thing; or

Thirdly:- Intentionally aids, by any act or illegal omission, the doing of that thing.

306 Abetment of suicide: 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 ten years, and shall also he liable to fine.

The provisions of Section 113-A of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 declare thus:

113-A Presumption as to abetment of suicide by a married woman --When the question is whether the commission of suicide by a woman had been abetted by her husband or any relative of her husband and it is shown that she had committed suicide within a period of seven years from the date of her marriage and that her husband or such relative of her husband had subjected her to cruelty, the court may presume, having regard to all the other circumstances of the case, that such suicide had been abetted by her husband or by such relative of her husband.

The word ''abetment'' is defined u/s 107. The word ''abates'' employed in Section 306 is to be read in the contest of the provisions of Section 107 of Indian Penal Code. A person is said to abate a thing if (1) instigates any person to do that thing (2) doing the thing by himself or through others by conspiracy for doing a thing, (3) Intentionally aids by act of omission or illegal omission in the doing of that thing. The pith and substance of Section 107 declares that there should be a positive intention on the part of the abettor that the victim should commit suicide as a consequence of his act. The mere acts of cruelty without an intention or contemplation on the part of the accused, that the deceased should commit suicide, cannot be a ground to hold the accused liable for abetment of suicide committed by the victim.

An. apparent reading the provision of Section 113A of Evidence Act appears to be in conflict with Section 107 of Indian Penal Code. Section 113A declares that if a married women commits suicide on account of cruelty within seven years of marriage, the law presumes that the husband or the relative of the husband has abated the commission of suicide.

The presumption u/s 113-A of the Evidence Act can be invoked only when it is established that the cruelty is perpetrated by acts with an intention that the deceased should commit suicide or commits cruelty of such a nature that it literally drives the woman to commit suicide as defined u/s 498A(a) Indian Penal Code. In the absence of such material, the invoking of presumption u/s 113-A is untenable in law.

Accordingly, the conviction u/s 306 IPC is set aside. The conviction u/s 498A of Indian Penal Code is confirmed, The accused are entitled to the benefit of act off u/s 482 of Code of Criminal Procedure.