Husband Telling Deceased To 'Hang Himself' For Allegedly Having Illicit Affair With Wife Doesn't Amount To Abetment Of Suicide: Karnataka High Court

The Karnataka High Court has quashed an abetment to suicide charge levelled against a husband accused of hurling abuses at a Father (Priest of a church) who allegedly had an affair with his wife.

A single-judge bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna allowed the petition filed by one David D'souza and quashed the proceedings registered against him under Sections 306, 506, 504 and 201 of the Indian Penal Code.

The bench on going through the records said: “The sole accused, husband of the lady with whom the deceased Father had certain relationship and had blunt out his anger and had uttered words 'go and hang yourself' cannot mean that it would become the ingredients of Section 107 of the IPC for it to become an offence under Section 306 of the IPC - abetment to suicide.

It was stated in the that complaint the deceased committed suicide on 11-10-2019 and an FIR was registered on 26-02-2020 against the petitioner alleging that he had indulged in a telephone conversion with the deceased Father Mahesh D'Souza immediately before his death and the Father had committed suicide owing to the conversion with the petitioner.

It is stated that the petitioner had threatened the Father that he would be defamed for having an illicit relationship with the wife of the petitioner and had also made a statement that the Father should hang himself for the act of having an affair with the wife of the petitioner.

It was argued that the Police conducted an investigation, collected the statement of witnesses and filed a charge sheet before the concerned Court on 09-09-2021 retaining the offences punishable under Sections 306, 504 and 506 of the IPC and giving up Section 201 of the IPC but adding Section 204 of the IPC. The filing of the charge sheet is what has driven the petitioner to this Court in the subject petition.

The petitioner argued that the deceased had an illicit relationship with the wife of the petitioner. The petitioner comes to know about it, contacts the Father and expresses his agony about the father having a relationship with his wife. While so saying, it is alleged, that the petitioner has used the words to the Father 'go hang yourself'.

It was stated that this statement can never become an abetment to suicide. The Father, on coming to know that somebody else has also known about his illicit relationship has committed suicide. Therefore, the petitioner cannot be hauled up for abetment to suicide, it was argued.

The prosecution opposed the plea saying that the Father committed suicide only due to the threatening words of the petitioner that he would reveal the illicit relationship between his wife and the Father and that but for the statement of the petitioner, the Father would not have committed suicide.

In negating these arguments, the bench said, “The reason for the deceased to commit suicide in the case at hand may be myriad, one of which could be the factum of him having illicit relationship with the wife of the petitioner, despite being the Father and Priest of a Church. It is trite that the human mind is an enigma and the task of unravelling the mystery of the human mind can never be accomplished.”

It added, “Permitting further proceedings despite a charge sheet being filed against the petitioner would undoubtedly lead the proceeding to become an abuse of the process of law, and result in patent injustice.”

Accordingly, it allowed the petition.

Appearance: Senior Advocate Sandesh J Chouta for Advocate Rakshith Kumar for Petitioner.

HCGP K.P.Yashodha for Respondent.

Citation No: 2024 LiveLaw (Kar) 207.

Case Title: David D'souza AND State of Karnataka

Case No: CRIMINAL PETITION No.4851 OF 2022

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