Thane court acquits man in suicide abetment case of 2012

Thane, Jun 30 (PTI) A court in Maharashtra's Thane district has acquitted a 34-year-old man accused in a 2012 case of abetting suicide of a minor girl, setting aside an order which sentenced him to three years rigorous imprisonment.

There is no evidence to show the accused had instigated the victim to commit suicide and the prosecution has failed to prove its case, Additional Sessions Judge, Bhiwandi, N K Karande said in the June 19 order.

A copy of the order was made available on Sunday.

An ad-hoc district and assistant sessions judge convicted the accused, resident of Vikramgad in neighbouring Palghar district, on February 26, 2015 for charges under Indian Penal Code sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 306 (abetment of suicide) and 506 (criminal intimidation).

He was sentenced to three years rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 1,000. The accused subsequently filed an appeal to set aside his conviction.

The prosecution's case is that on December 4, 2012, the accused outraged the modesty of a 14-year-old girl when she was going to school in Vikramgad. Some friends accompanying her tried to intervene, but the accused threatened them.

Thereafter, the accused dragged the victim to a roadside.

The girl felt insulted. She went home and hanged herself with a "odhni" (a cloth worn around the neck) from the wooden roof in her room the same day, as per the prosecution.

The judge in his order said the advocate for the accused submitted that the prosecution witness evidence shows the accused stopped the victim and only talked to her.

"Mere talking does not imply an intention of the accused to outrage the modesty of the deceased victim. Neither the victim nor her friends immediately went to the police station to lodge a report. Therefore, their conduct clearly creates doubt about the prosecution's case," he said.

"The victim went home and committed suicide. The accused had not played any active role in the episode of suicide. Prior to the incident, the accused had not uttered any word which provoked the victim to commit suicide. The prosecution has not brought on record any evidence of abetment of suicide," the judge said.

The trial court has wrongly appreciated the evidence on record and come to the wrong conclusion, he said.

"The prosecution has not brought any evidence to show that the accused had instigated the victim to commit suicide. There is no evidence to show that the accused aided the deceased victim in committing suicide. The words uttered by the accused prior to the incident do not reflect an intention of the accused regarding the suicide of the deceased victim," the judge said.

"The judgment and order passed by the ad-hoc district judge-1 and assistant sessions judge, Thane, convicting and sentencing the appellant for the offences is hereby quashed and set aside," he said. PTI COR GK