In Brief
A man was convicted of cruelty (Section 498A) and abetment to his wife's suicide (Section 306 IPC) after she died by self-immolation. The Supreme Court upheld the conviction for cruelty based on evidence of assault and ill-treatment during their marriage. However, it acquitted him of abetment to suicide, holding that mere marital discord and harassment—without direct, proximate acts of instigation or aid—cannot establish abetment. The conviction under Section 498A was affirmed but the sentence was modified to time already served. The Section 306 conviction was set aside entirely.
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