In Brief
A young woman died by suicide in March 2015, months after her husband allegedly refused reconciliation at a community mediation session in February 2015. The husband and his relatives were charged with abetment of suicide. The Supreme Court allowed the appeal and discharged the appellants, finding that over one month separated the alleged hostile words from the suicide, breaking the required proximate link. The Court held that prosecution failed to prove mens rea (intent to abet)—mere refusal to reconcile or words spoken in anger, without more, cannot constitute instigation to suicide under law. Absent explicit proof that the appellants intended to leave the deceased with no choice but death, criminal proceedings amounted to abuse of process.
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