New Delhi: The Supreme Court recently observed that  refusing to marry a live-in partner, followed by the partner’s suicide, does not by itself amount to the offence of abetment of suicide.

The court was hearing a case registered under Section 306 read with Section 34 of the IPC (abetment of suicide with common intention). The prosecution had alleged that the deceased woman and the first accused, who were childhood friends, were in a consensual relationship and had lived together at his residence for around three months.

Read Also: Kerala: Husband Arrested After 27-Year-Old Wife Found Hanging At Home, Domestic Abuse Suspected

The prosecution pointed out that the woman’s partner had proposed marriage, which was initially accepted by the deceased and his family. However, the accused’s parents, sister and others later allegedly pressured him to end the relationship.  The deceased had told her eldest sister over the phone that the first accused had refused to marry her and that she would end her life if the marriage did not take place the next day.

According to the prosecution case, an altercation subsequently took place at the accused’s residence, following which the deceased allegedly locked herself in a room and died by suicide.

Read Also: Karnataka: 23-Year-Old Woman Dies By Suicide In Bagalkot As Husband Records Incident

While hearing the case, a Bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice K Vinod Chandran quashed the criminal proceedings against six accused, including the woman’s partner, his parents, sister and others. and said that the allegations did not establish any act of instigation by the accused to drive the woman to suicide, even if accepted as stated by the complainant.

“People react differently to situations and if a breakup ends up with suicide, it cannot always be termed an abetment to suicide. The refusal to marry was not with an intention to drive the woman to death by suicide nor can knowledge be attributed to the accused that on such refusal, she would commit suicide,” the court stated.