Mere refusal to marry does not constitute instigation for suicide, and without evidence of mens rea, conviction under Section 306 IPC cannot be sustained.

J U D G M E N T

PANKAJ MITHAL, J.

1. The accused-appellant was charged under Sections 417 , 376 and 306 of the Indian Penal Code 1 . The trial court acquitted him of all the above offences, but on appeal by the State of Karnataka to the High Court, he was convicted for the offences under Sections 417 and 306 IPC . However, the 1 In short ‘ IPC ’ Digitally signed by KANCHAN CHOUHAN Date: 2024.11.29 Reason: Signature Not Verified acquittal under Section 376 IPC was maintained. He was awarded sentence of 1 year under Section 417 IPC with a fine of Rs.5,000/-; and with a sentence of 4 years for the offence under Section 306 IPC with a fine of Rs.20,000/-. Basically, the conviction of the accused-appellant is for the offences of cheating and for abetment of suicide only.

2. A girl named Suvarna, aged about 21 years, was in love with the accused-appellant for the past 8 years i.e. she was in love with him since the age of 13 years. It is alleged that the accused-appellant had promised to marry her but when he refused, she consumed poison and committed suicide.

3. It is alleged that the accused-appellant, Kamruddin Dastagir Sanadi, had promised to marry the deceased before the jamaat (panchayath) but 4 months prior to the incident, he had left the village and started living at Kakati, Karnataka. The deceased came to Kakati in the evening of 18.08.2007 and when the accused-appellant clearly refused to marry her, she left. The deceased spent the whole night at the bus stand at Kakati and in the morning consumed poison which she had brought with her from Gadhinglaj. One Badshaha (PW-5), relative of the accused-appellant, found her lying at the bus stand and took her to hospital at about 08:50 am on 19.08.2007. PSI Kakati (PW-15) recorded the statement of the deceased between 3 pm and 4 pm & thereafter sent a requisition to the Executive Magistrate to record the deceased’s dying declaration. The dying declaration of the deceased was recorded by the Taluka Executive Magistrate, Belgaum (PW-11) in the presence of the doctor (PW-12) between 04.50 pm and 05.20 pm. Thereafter, she died in the hospital on the same day itself i.e. on 19.08.2007.

4. The mother of the deceased (PW-1) lodged an FIR on 20.08.2007 under Section 306 read with Section 34 IPC at the Police Station, Kakati, Circle Belgaum Rural District, Karnataka against the accused-appellant and his uncle, alleging that the accused-appellant had deceived her daughter by promising to marry her and then refusing it, which led to the commission of suicide by her in frustration.

5. After investigation, a chargesheet was drawn and submitted charging the accused-appellant under Sections 417 , 376 and 306 IPC . The accused-appellant was arrested on 20.08.2007 and later released on bail during the trial. The II nd Additional Sessions Judge, Belgaum, vide judgment and order dated 13.04.2010 acquitted the accused-appellant of all the charges as there was no allegation in the dying declaration that the accused-appellant ever had any sexual intercourse with the deceased on the pretext of promise to marry her or ever had any physical relationship with her. Her only allegation was that she consumed poison as he refused to marry her. There was no allegation that the accused- appellant instigated her to consume poison or to commit suicide.

6. Moreover, the statement of mother of the deceased (PW-1) revealed that it was only the deceased who was in love with the accused-appellant and not the other way around. The deceased had impressed upon her mother to convince the accused-appellant to marry her as she was in love with him. The mother of the deceased (PW-1) nowhere stated that the accused-appellant was in love with her daughter. No other evidence was there to prove that any physical relationship was established by the accused-appellant with the deceased except that he had agreed to marry her before the panchayath, which was not proved.

7. Thus, in the facts and circumstances of the