A 34-year-old man accused of abetting the suicide of a minor girl in a 2012 case has been acquitted by a court in Thane district, Maharashtra.
The Additional Sessions Judge, Bhiwandi, N K Karande, in an order dated June 19, overturned the earlier conviction, citing lack of evidence and failure of the prosecution to prove its case.
The accused, a resident of Vikramgad in Palghar district, was convicted by an ad-hoc district and assistant sessions judge in 2015 under IPC sections 341, 354, 306, and 506. He was sentenced to three years of rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 1,000. Subsequently, he filed an appeal challenging the conviction.
According to the prosecution, on December 4, 2012, the accused allegedly outraged the modesty of a 14-year-old girl while she was on her way to school in Vikramgad. It was alleged that he also threatened her friends who tried to intervene, and later dragged the victim to a roadside. The girl, feeling insulted, went home and hanged herself the same day.
In the recent acquittal order, Judge Karande noted the defense argument that mere conversation between the accused and the victim did not imply intent to outrage her modesty. He highlighted that the victim and her friends did not immediately report the incident to the police, casting doubt on the prosecution’s case.
“The accused did not actively participate in the suicide of the victim,” Judge Karande stated. “There is no evidence that he instigated or aided her suicide. The earlier court’s judgment was based on wrongly appreciated evidence.”
Concluding the order, Judge Karande quashed the earlier conviction and set aside all charges against the accused.
