Mumbai – The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court said in its judgment that if a lover commits suicide after breaking a long-term relationship, a case of abetment of suicide cannot be registered against the lover.
Mrs. Urmila-Phalke acquitted the lover of the case of instigating the woman to commit suicide. The accused was in a relationship with the woman for nine years.
The judge said, it is only a case of relationship breakdown which cannot be said to have led to suicide.
The detailed suicide note written by the deceased woman and WhatsApp chats between the two reveal that it was a love affair and physical relations between them were consensual.
The investigation nowhere reveals that the petitioner in any way instigated the deceased to take his own life, on the contrary, the evidence shows that the deceased woman was in constant touch with the petitioner even after the break up of the relationship. Mere refusal of the petitioner to marry cannot be termed as abetment of suicide.
The suicide by the deceased was not the immediate result of a broken relationship. The applicant refused the love affair in July 2020 itself and after that the woman committed suicide on 3 December 2020. The judge said, therefore, there is no connection between the two things.
The court released the 26 year old man. The youth challenged the order of the Khamgaon Sessions Court of Buldhana district, in which exemption from the case was refused.
The Sessions Court considered the statement of the father of the deceased that the petitioner had put his daughter under mental stress. After being in a relationship for a long time, there was a sudden breakup, actually he was in a relationship with another girl. The court also considered the suicide note which mentioned mental distress due to her breakup.
