Kolkata, April 13 -- Observing that mere harassment is not sufficient to find an accused guilty of abetting suicide, the Calcutta High Court has set aside a judgement and conviction order against in-laws where the wife died an unnatural death in 1997.

The bench of Justice Prasenjit Biswas was moved by the husband, mother-in law and sister-in-law challenging the conviction order of the trial court for cruelty against married woman and abetment of suicide.

The brother of the woman learnt his sister committed suicide on November 4, 1997 by swallowing poison after being allegedly assaulted by the in-laws. On visiting the matrimonial house, he found her body lying on the cot outside the house. The in-laws were accused of torturing the woman for dowry.

Court observed that the autopsy doctor had stated that on dissection of the body of the victim, he found her viscera congested whitish fluid in small intestine and suspected that death was caused by poison. He sent the viscera for chemical analysis but no report was collected by the investigating agency and produced before the trial court. Hence, cause of death could not be ascertained.

The doctor also did not find any injury mark on the victim although her sister claimed to have seen such marks on the body. Court also found the conduct of the victim's brother (de facto complainant) strange since he left for his home once the body was taken to the hospital. Further, no FIR was lodged by the victim's kins for the alleged torture inflicted upon her. Their silence aroused suspicion with regard to their credibility as witnesses.

The court observed that mere statement of harassment by itself is not sufficient to find the accused guilty of abetting suicide. "To bring a conviction under Section 306 IPC it is necessary to establish a clear mens-rea to instigate or push the deceased to commit suicide," the court said.

The court observed that each part of the prosecution case is tainted with meagreness of evidence or absence of satisfactory evidence.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.