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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
SUNDER MOHAN
Yogeswaran S/o Radakrishnan – Appellant
Versus
State Represented by Inspector of Police, Saravanampatty Police Station – Respondent
JUDGMENT :
SUNDER MOHAN, J.
1. This Criminal Appeal has been filed by the accused, challenging the conviction and sentence imposed upon them, vide Judgment dated 22.12.2022 in S.C.No.93 of 2018, on the file of the learned Sessions Judge, Mahila Court/Additional Special Judge for Exclusive Trial of Cases under POCSO Act, Coimbatore.
2. (a) The case of the prosecution is that the first appellant/A1/husband of the victim had married the de-facto complainant’s daughter/victim on 19.05.2016, pursuant to a love affair; that the second appellant/mother of the first appellant/mother-in-law of the victim had committed cruelty in various ways; that thereafter, the victim and the first appellant set up a separate matrimonial home; that two weeks before the occurrence since the first appellant had to work on night shifts, he had dropped the victim in the house of P.W.1/mother of the victim; that the second appellant is said to have questioned the victim as to how she could go to her mother’s house instead of coming to the appellants’ house; that on 19.10.2016, the victim had called P.W.1 over phone and had stated that the appellants demanded a sum of Rs.5,00,000/- (Rupees Five Lakhs Only) as dowr
Insufficient evidence of cruelty or dowry demand results in overturning conviction for abetment of suicide; mere marital discord does not establish abetment under IPC.
The court established that minor domestic quarrels do not constitute sufficient evidence for conviction under IPC Sections 498(A) and 304(B), emphasizing the necessity for credible evidence of dowry ....
(1) Abetment of suicide – A critical requirement under Section 306 IPC is existence of mens rea – Mental element cannot be presumed merely because a suicide occurred in backdrop of alleged harassment....
The prosecution must prove all essential elements of dowry death and cruelty beyond a reasonable doubt; failure to do so results in acquittal.
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