Case Note & Summary
The appeal arose from the conviction of the appellant by the II Additional Sessions Judge and Special Judge, Bangalore Rural District, in Spl.C.No.151/2010 dated 24.11.2011. The trial court had convicted the appellant under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced him to rigorous imprisonment for five years and a fine of ₹15,000, with a default sentence of six months simple imprisonment, and ordered the fine to be paid as compensation to PW.2, the father of the deceased. The appellant was acquitted of the offence under Section 3(2)(v) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. The prosecution case was that the deceased, Ashwini, a 16‑year‑old PUC II student, committed suicide on 30.07.2010 in her house in Tapasihalli village. The appellant, who belonged to the Gowda community, had allegedly been harassing her for about two months prior, expressing love and threatening her that if she refused to marry him, he would spread rumours of her pregnancy and force her family out of the village. On the day of the incident, the appellant repeated these threats near her college, causing her immense disgrace, after which she returned home and hanged herself. The trial court found that the appellant’s acts of harassment and intimidation directly drove the deceased to suicide, holding him guilty under Section 306 IPC. In the appeal before the High Court, the appellant, through senior counsel, challenged the conviction primarily on the ground that the prosecution evidence consisted of interested witnesses who were relatives of the deceased, their testimony was inconsistent and largely hearsay, and the statement of the only alleged eyewitness, PW.13, was recorded after an inordinate delay of eight days, thereby undermining its credibility. It was also argued that the parents of the deceased had not directly testified to the appellant’s disgraceful conduct. The High Court heard detailed arguments on the reliability of such evidence and the necessity of proving direct instigation for abetment of suicide. The judgment was delivered on 30.01.2020, and the appeal’s outcome remains to be detailed in the remainder of the judgment.
Headnote
A) Criminal Law - Abetment of Suicide - Section 306 Indian Penal Code, 1860 - The trial court convicted the accused for abetment of suicide, finding that his persistent harassment, threats and eve-teasing of the 16‑year‑old deceased directly instigated her to commit suicide by hanging, and sentenced him to rigorous imprisonment for five years and a fine of ₹15,000. (Paras 1, 9) B) Criminal Law - Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 - Section 3(2)(v) - The trial court acquitted the accused of the offence under Section 3(2)(v) of the SC/ST Act, concluding that the prosecution failed to prove that the act was committed because the deceased belonged to a Scheduled Tribe. (Paras 1, 9) C) Evidence - Interested Witnesses and Hearsay - The appellant contended that all prosecution witnesses were relatives and interested, and their testimonies were inconsistent and largely hearsay, not directly witnessing the alleged harassment; such evidence requires cautious appraisal. (Paras 10‑13) D) Evidence - Delay in Recording Statement - The appellant argued that the testimony of PW.13, the alleged eyewitness, was recorded eight days after the incident, casting serious doubt on its genuineness and rendering it unreliable. (Paras 12)
Issue of Consideration
Whether the trial court’s conviction of the appellant under Section 306 IPC is sustainable, and whether the prosecution evidence, consisting largely of interested and hearsay witnesses, along with delayed recording of key witness statements, sufficiently establishes the offence of abetment of suicide
Law Points
- Suicide abetment must involve direct or indirect instigation
- hearsay evidence is inadmissible
- interested witness testimony to be scrutinised carefully
- delay in recording witness statement affects credibility
- conviction under SC/ST Act requires proof of caste-based atrocity
