UDE SINGH & Ors. v. STATE OF HARYANA

Judgment

9 S.C.R. 703 703 UDE SINGH & ORS. v. STATE OF HARYANA (Criminal Appeal No. 233 of 2010) JULY 25, 2019 [ABHAY MANOHAR SAPRE AND DINESH MAHESHWARI, JJ.] Penal Code, 1860: s.306 r/w s.34 – Abetment to suicide – Prosecution case was that parties were closely related to each other and living in same village and in neighbourhood – Relations between them were strained and they were engaged in several litigations including complaint relating to hurt case as lodged by PW-11, mother of the deceased – Allegation against the accused was that they abetted commission of suicide by the daughter of the complainant (PW-1) – Deceased girl was about 18 years of age – Accused Nos. 1 and 2 were uncles in her relation whereas, accused Nos. 3 and 4 were her cousins – The deceased girl had been complaining to her family about the indecent behaviour of the accused that they addressed her as “wife”, “chachi” (aunt) or “Bohoria” (younger brother’s wife) – The girl was always advised by her family to keep quiet – On the fateful day, she was found dead, hanging by her neck – On previous day, the deceased girl had complained to her mother and uncle about the indecent taunts made by accused and while crying told them that she would end her life as and when she would get opportunity to do so – Trial court found appellant-accused guilty of offence punishable under s.306 r/w s.34 and awarded four years RI – High Court upheld conviction but modified sentence to two and a half years RI – On appeal, held: In the given set up and respective position of the parties, if accused No.1 continuously addressed or called the deceased girl as his “wife”, the utterance was not merely of teasing but of demeaning and destroying the self- esteem of the young girl whose engagement had broken and whose uncle was mocking her to join him in matrimony – It was the act of humiliation of highest order for the girl, who had personally suffered the set-back of broken engagement – The other accused persons 703 A B C D E F G H 704 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2019] 9 S.C.R. chose to join the accused No. 1 and aggravated the humiliation of the girl by addressing her as younger brother’s wife or aunt – Accused persons were working with the common intention to harass and humiliate the girl with reference to her broken engagement – Such taunting and humiliation of the deceased at the hands of the accused persons was not a singular event or one-off affair but had been a continuous feature, as amply established by the prosecution witnesses – There was no reason to disbelieve the statement of PW- 11 that her daughter wept the whole night after the said incident and on being frustrated and exasperated with such humiliations, ended her life in the early morning very next day – It is not a case of a mere eve-teasing, insult or intimidation but the continuous and repeated acts and utterances of the accused persons were calculated to destroy her self-esteem aimed at taking her to the brink of helplessness and to the vanishing point of tolerance – Accused Nos. 1 and 3 were rightly held guilty of offence of abetment of suicide – Interference with the order of High Court not called for. Penal Code, 1860: s.306 r/w s.34 – Claim of juvenility by appellant no.2 – As per matriculation certificate, on the date of incident, appellant no.2 was 16 years old – He is entitled to benefit of juvenility. Words and phrases: Word ‘abetment’ – Meaning of in the context of s.107 IPC. Disposing of the appeal, the Court HELD : 1.1 “Abetment” involves a mental process of instigating a person in doing something. A person abets the doing of a thing when: (i) he instigates any person to do that thing; or (ii) he engages with one or more persons in any conspiracy for the doing of that thing; or (iii) he intentionally aids, by acts or illegal omission, the doing of that thing. These are essential to complete the abetment as a crime. The word “instigate” literally means to provoke, incite, urge on or bring about by persuasion to do anything. In cases of alleged abetment of suicide, there must be a proof of direct or indirect act/s of incitement to the commission of suicide. In the case of accusation for abetment of suicide, the Court would be looking for cogent and convincing proof of the act/s of incitement to the commission of suicide. In A B C D E F G H UDE SINGH & ORS. v. STATE OF HARYANA 705 the case of suicide, mere allegation of harassment of the deceased by another person would not suffice unless there be such action on the part of the accused which compels the person to commit suicide; and such an offending action ought to be proximate to the time of occurrence. Whether a person has abetted in the commission of suicide by another or not, could only be gathered from the facts and circumstances of each case. [Paras 15, 16] [729-A-E]

1.2 If the accused plays an active role in tarnishing the self- esteem and self-respect of the victim, which eventually draws the victim to commit suicide, the accused may be held guilty of abetment of suicide. The question of mens rea on the part of the accused in such cases would be examined with reference to the actual acts and deeds of the accused and if the acts and deeds are only of such nature where the accused intended nothing more than harassment or snap show of anger, a particular case may fall short of the offence of abetment of suicide. [Para 16.1] [729-G-H; 730-A-B]

#2. The complainant (father of the deceased) and the accused persons, residing in the same village in the State of Haryana, were closely related as cousins but were estranged in relations; and were involved in several civil and criminal cases against each other. The deceased girl was about 18 years of age; she had failed to clear her 10th standard examination and was practically a drop out from her studies; and she was engaged for the purpose of marriage but, six months before the incident in question, her engagement had broken. The accused Nos. 1 and 2 were uncles in her relation whereas, the accused Nos. 3 and 4 were her cousins. In the given set up and the respective position of the parties, if accused No. 1 continuously addressed or called the deceased girl as his “wife”, the utterance was not merely of teasing but of demeaning and destroying the self-esteem of the young girl whose engagement had broken and whose uncle was mocking her to join him in matrimony. It was the act of humiliation of highest order for the girl, who had personally suffered the set- back of broken engagement, apart that she was unable to clear even 10th standard examination. Obviously, she was being ridiculed and taunted for her broken engagement. The other accused persons chose to join the accused No. 1 and aggravated A B C D E F G H 706 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2019] 9 S.C.R. the humiliation of the girl by addressing her as younger brother’s wife or aunt. There remains nothing to doubt that the accused persons were working with the common intention to harass and humiliate the girl with reference to her broken engagement. The significant part of the matter is that such taunting and humiliation of the deceased at the hands of the accused persons had not been a singular event or one-off affair but had been a continuous feature, as amply established by the prosecution witnesses. [Paras 20, 21] [731-E-F; 732-A-E]

#3. The intention of the accused had only been to drive the deceased to the brink of helplessness and intolerance; they in fact succeeded in doing so on 05.05.1996, when the girl rebuked them for their utterances. However, the victim girl found no way out because the humiliation at the hands of accused had been everyday affair; and, in the given set up of the society she belonged to, any action against the accused by her family was being avoided for the sake of her honour. The present case indeed represents a sordid state of affairs in relation to the young girl in the rural setting, whose honour and self-esteem got brutally violated by none other but her own relatives, who found her to be the soft- target to settle their scores with her parents. The accused rather exhibited their denigrating mentality while targeting the young girl, who was otherwise required to be treated by them with affection and respect, for being their niece and their cousin. The facts of this case lead only to the conclusion that the accused persons had intentionally, with their incessant acts and utterances, goaded the victim girl to commit suicide. She indeed committed suicide within few hours of her last and unbearable encounter with the accused. The acts and deeds of the accused in the evening of 05.05.1996 had been too proximate to the event of suicide by 9 a.m. in the morning of 06.05.1996. As testified by PW-11,her daughter cried the whole night for being unable to bear the daily humiliation at the hands of the accused; and ended her life in the morning. [Paras 23, 24] [733-C-G]