Judgment :-

V.S. Sirpurkar, J.

1. This appeal is filed by the accused Mankamma challenging her conviction for the offence punishable under Section 306, IPC on the allegation that she abetted the suicide of her daughter-in-law, Bindu. All the three courts below have found her guilty of that offence. The first two courts had awarded her the rigorous imprisonment for two years with fine of Rs. 2,000/- in default to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a further period of six months. The High Court while confirming the sentence reduced the sentence to one year rigorous imprisonment and also reduced the amount of fine from Rs. 2,000/- to Rs. 1,000/-.

2. The prosecution case in extremely short conspectus is that Bindu was married to Prakasan, son of the appellant and it was a love marriage. They belonged to different communities and hence the marriage was not approved by the parents of Bindu. So much so, Bindu ran away with Prakasan to get married . The prosecution case reveals that there is one son born out of the wedlock. Bindu was married in the year 1987 and was residing in the matrimonial house with her husband and the accused. The incident in question had taken place on 15.06.1989 i.e.