Karnataka High Court News: Karnataka High Court has said in a decision that mere threatening words will not be considered as incitement to suicide. This case is related to the suicide of a church priest in Udupi district.
There was a love affair going on between the pastor and the petitioner’s wife and there used to be fights between the two regarding this matter. The defense lawyer said that this comment was made out of distress after the alleged relationship came to light. The priest decided to end his life because others came to know about this relationship.
The lawyer for the other side said that the priest committed suicide because the accused had threatened to expose this relationship to others. However, based on earlier decisions of the Supreme Court, the single-judge bench emphasized that such statements alone would not amount to incitement to suicide. The court held many reasons responsible for the priest’s suicide. One reason for this was that despite being a father and a pastor, he was having an affair with another woman. The court quashed the proceedings against the petitioner and refused to consider the petitioner’s statement as an incitement to suicide.
