The Gujarat High Court acquitted a man of abetting his wife’s suicide earlier this month, 23 years after he was convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison for abetment and one year for cruelty. The court set aside a 2003 Sessions Court judgment in Valsad district, while rejecting the woman’s parents’ claim that she had taken the extreme step due to cruelty by her husband.
Justice Gita Gopi passed the order on February 5 on an appeal filed against the man’s conviction for the May 1996 suicide of his wife.
While allowing the man’s appeal and setting aside the 2003 order, Justice Gopi said in the judgment that “cogent evidence” needs to be put forth to prove “persistent, unbearable continuous beatings” for the same “to be believed as cruelty that drove the daughter to commit suicide by hanging herself.”
Parents’ complaint, defence arguments
The woman’s parents, in their complaint, alleged that their daughter had been murdered by the accused, who subjected her to constant “mental and physical cruelty”.
The woman’s mother, in her testimony, stated that a month prior to her daughter’s death, she saw her daughter’s husband “slapping” her as “he was angry that she had stayed overnight at her parents’ house without informing him”, and then he had “killed their daughter” a few days later.
The trial court convicted and sentenced the accused to seven years imprisonment for abetment to suicide of his wife and one year for cruelty, considering medical evidence that the cause of death stated in the post mortem report was “asphyxia due to hanging” with no injuries to point to a “mechanical suicide” or “homicidal hanging”.
The advocates appearing for the man pointed out to the court that the witnesses’ testimonies show that the couple quarrelled often, as the woman “did not like” that the accused-husband would “return late at home after playing banjo at wedding parties” by taking leave from his job.
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The advocates also submitted that from the facts of the case, the issue was that of “domestic quarrel between husband and wife, which does not fall within the definition of cruelty for offence under Section 498A, no case of any abetment for the commission of suicide has been proved.”
‘Parents knew accused was beating her’
In its judgement, the High Court said it appears that the “quarrel was only on the ground as the husband was going out at night to play ‘banjo’ in marriage ceremonies and after returning late”. “One incident of husband slapping the wife on the ground of staying overnight at parental home without informing him would not be counted as cruelty. The proximate cause of suicide was not proved.”
The court considered submissions that during her cross-examination in the trial, the deceased woman’s mother had stated that the parents did not file a police complaint or ask anyone to intervene. and also “did not inform the parents of the accused that he was beating their daughter…”
“Though the parents knew that the accused was beating her, they had never filed any complaint nor had they ever thought it fit to take the matter to the community panch nor had they instructed the daughter to leave the accused and not go to the matrimonial house in the company of the accused.”
Aditi Raja is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express, stationed in Vadodara, Gujarat, with over 20 years in the field. She has been reporting from the region of Central Gujarat and Narmada district for this newspaper since 2013, which establishes her as a highly Authoritative and Trustworthy source on regional politics, administration, and critical socio-economic and environmental issues.
Expertise:
Core Authority & Specialization: Her reporting is characterized by a comprehensive grasp of the complex factors shaping Central Gujarat, which comprises a vast tribal population, including:
Politics and Administration: In-depth analysis of dynamics within factions of political parties and how it affects the affairs in the region, visits of national leaders making prominent statements, and government policy decisions impacting the population on ground.
Crucial Regional Projects: She consistently reports on the socio-economic and political impact of infrastructure projects in the region, especially the Statue of Unity, the Sardar Sarovar Project on the Narmada River, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail bullet train project as well as the National Highway infrastructure.
Social Justice and Human Rights: Her reporting offers deep coverage of sensitive human-interest topics, including gender, crime, and tribal issues. Her reports cover legal proceedings from various district courts as well as the Gujarat High Court (e.g., the Bilkis Bano case remission, POCSO court orders, Public Interest Litigations), the plight of tribal communities, and broader social conflicts (e.g., Kheda flogging case).
Local Impact & Disaster Reporting: Excels in documenting the immediate impact of events on communities, such as the political and civic fallout of the Vadodara floods, the subsequent public anger, and the long-delayed river redevelopment projects, Harni Boat Tragedy, Air India crash, bringing out a blend of stories from the investigations as well as human emotions.
Special Interest Beat: She tracks incidents concerning Non-Resident Gujaratis (NRIs) including crime and legal battles abroad, issues of illegal immigration and deportations, as well as social events connecting the local Gujarati experience to the global diaspora. ... Read More
