Words Spoken in Anger can’t be Treated as Abetment to Suicide: Madhya Pradesh HC

Madhya Pradesh high court has said that words spoken in anger cannot be treated as abetment to suicide and struck down proceedings of district court against three accused of allegedly driving a farmer to suicide.

The bench of Justice Sujoy Paul gave this ruling after hearing the plea of Rajendra Lodhi, Bhupendra Lodhi and Bhanu Lodhi of Damoh district who were charged guilty in the suicide case of Moorat Singh Lodhi by the trial court. The deceased Moorat In his dying declaration, alleged Bhupendra Lodhi of abuses and he felt insulted so he consumed insecticide.

Police registered a case under IPC sections 306 and 34 against Rajendra, Bhupendra and Bhanu for abetting Murat’s suicide. The trial court framed charges after which the trio moved high court to seek quashing of the FIR.

After hearing both the claims, the bench of Justice Sujoy Paul referred to earlier Supreme Court orders in similar matters and said that abetting someone’s suicide is a “mental process.” “Words spoken in anger don’t constitute a fit case for abetment of suicide charge against a person or group of persons if the person who is verbally abused or threatened commits suicide thereafter,” the court said and quashed the charges against the trio.

The Supreme Court order is, “Abetment involves a mental process of instigating a person or intentionally aiding a person in doing a thing. Without a positive act on the part of the accused to instigate or aid in committing suicide, conviction cannot be sustained…In order to convict a person under Section 306 IPC there has to be a clear mens rea (criminal intent) to commit offence.”