The elements of abetment of suicide require direct provocation or instigation, not merely emotional expressions from a suicide note.

ORDER :

SACHIN SHANKAR MAGADUM, J.

The petitioner, an engineering student, hardly aged about 18 years, is seeking quashing of proceedings pending in Crime No.15/2025 registered by Kempapura Agrahara police station for the offence punishable under sections 108 and 3(5) of the BNS, 2023.

2. Facts leading to the case are as under:

A crime has been registered at the instance of respondent No.2/defacto complainant, alleging that his son, who was pursuing engineering, committed suicide. It is alleged that the present petitioner, arrayed as accused No.1, along with another friend, arrayed as accused No.2, abetted the commission of suicide. Relying upon the contents of the death note allegedly left behind by the deceased, the crime has been registered for the aforesaid offences.

3. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner, the learned High Court Government Pleader for respondent No.1, and the learned counsel for respondent No.2/defacto complainant.

4. The material on record discloses a deeply distressing set of facts. As per the prosecution case, a young student pursuing engineering has ended his life, leaving behind a death note. Before proceeding to consider the matter further, this Court finds it appropriate to reproduce the contents of the said death note, which reads as follows:

"Hi mama and papa, I'm going to be very open about everything here. I cannot do this anymore. I am too financially burdened.

In November, I was manipulated and forced into taking out a loan against mama's gold. It started off with 1 pair of bangles, then it become 2, then 3, then a chain too, either way, the total gold loan debt is nearly 6.2 lakh. As you can guess, its all gone, I lost it all.

Even after losing so much, Ishan arranged money from a person named Vrushank to help me. "We'll clear it together" is what Ishan said. Anyway, Vrushank gave nearly 1.5 lakh, and now he's demanding 30 lakh back.

Ishan has thrown me under the bus and its solely my responsibility. I cannot do this. Vrushank is threatening to torture me, and my parents. I request the police to protect my parents.

I blame my suicide fully on Ishan V Shriyan for betraying me and throwing me under the bus. At 18 years of age having 36 lakh debt is no joke. I apologise to you ma and pa for going down this path. Things should not have ended like this, it’s a shame it has to be this way.

I love you mama and papa"

5. On a plain reading of the death note, certain significant factual details emerge. The deceased, who was the son of respondent No.2, admits in the opening part of the note that he had pledged his mother’s gold ornaments, starting with one pair of bangles, then two, later three, and eventually even a chain, to raise funds for discharging a gold loan, which had by then accumulated to nearly Rs.6.2 lakh. He candidly admits that the entire amount raised was lost.

6. In the subsequent part of the note, the deceased narrates that despite this heavy loss, it was the petitioner/accused No.1 who arranged to secure further funds by approaching accused No.2, Vrushank. According to the note, accused No.2 advanced a sum of Rs.1.5 lakh, allegedly on the assurance by the petitioner that “we’ll clear it together.” However, the deceased further alleges that accused No.2 later began demanding an exorbitant amount of Rs.30 lakh in return.

7. In the third unnumbered paragraph, the deceased states that accused No.2 was threatening to torture both him and his parents, and specifically requests the police to ensure the safety of his parents.

8. In the concluding portion of the note, the deceased places sol