India, July 26 -- The Bombay high court has set aside the conviction of a Satara man who was found guilty 27 years ago for abetment to suicide and cruelty towards his wife, holding that taunting a woman over her dark complexion or criticising her cooking does not amount to "cruelty".

The court was hearing an appeal filed by Sadashiv Rupnawar, who was sentenced by a sessions court in 1998 for abetment to suicide (section 306) and cruelty (section 498-A) after the death of his 22-year-old wife, Prema.

Prema had gone missing from her matrimonial home in Degaon village in January 1998, five years after their marriage. Her body was later found in a well. Based on a complaint from her family, police registered a case against Rupnawar and his ...