Delhi court acquits man accused of abetting wife’s suicide

A Delhi court has acquitted a man of charges of abetting his wife’s suicide, observing that it would be “absurd” to even think that he intended to compel her to take such an extreme step.

Additional Sessions Judge Vipin Kharb was hearing the case against Dharmendra Kumar, who had been booked by the Sunlight Colony police station under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 306 (abetment of suicide).

The prosecution alleged that Kumar had instigated his wife, Sunita, to commit suicide by hanging on May 2, 2016.

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In an order dated September 1, the court said that the couple was married in 1998 and had two sons. It noted that four prosecution witnesses, including two independent or public witnesses staying in the couple’s neighbourhood, had deposed about the husband and wife having cordial relations.

The court noted that the deceased’s brother, the complainant, had testified about his sister having “good relations’ with her husband, but having altercations with her mother-in-law over some rent dispute.

It said, “He (the brother) made no allegation against the accused in the court and stated that he gave the written complaint regarding beating and harassment by the accused at the instigation of his relatives. So, he did not support the case of the prosecution and turned hostile.”

The court said the couple’s sons were of a “mature age” and could understand the circumstances if their mother was driven to commit suicide because of cruelty.

It said, “Both the children would have been the best witnesses of the cruelty subjected to or the circumstances in which their deceased mother was staying, but they did not even join the investigation; this supports the deposition of the complainant Satender that he gave the statement at the instigation of his relatives.”

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The court said all the prosecution witnesses supported the accused, and there was no other incriminating material against him.

“In the absence of any material on record pointing out any circumstance showing any act or intention that the accused intended to bring about the suicide of his wife, it would be absurd to even think he had any intention to place the deceased in such circumstances that there was no option available to her except to commit suicide,” the court said, acquitting him.