The Karnataka High Court recently quashed a criminal case filed against a man who was accused of abetting the suicide of a Christian priest..The accused man was booked in the case on allegations that he told the deceased priest to go "hang himself" for allegedly having an affair with the accused man's wife. A Bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna, however, observed that this is not enough to book the accused for the crime of suicide abetment. "The sole accused, husband of the lady with whom the deceased Father had certain relationship and had blunt out his anger and had uttered words ‘go and hang yourself’ cannot mean that it would become the ingredients of Section 107 of the IPC for it to become an offence under Section 306 (suicide abetment) of the IPC," the Court said. .The judge also echoed observations made by various courts that the human mind is an enigma, which cannot be fully understood to determine what may drive a person to die by suicide. "The reason for the deceased to commit suicide in the case at hand may be myriad, one of which could be the factum of him having illicit relationship with the wife of the petitioner, despite being the Father and Priest of a Church. It is trite that human mind is an enigma and the task of unraveling the mystery of human mind can never be accomplished," the April 22 judgment stated..The deceased priest was found hanging in a room on October 11, 2019. A criminal case was later lodged on February 26, 2020, against the accused. The accused was alleged to have had a telephone conversation with the deceased priest just before his death. The prosecution claimed that the priest had committed suicide as a result of the conversation with the accused man. In the telephone conversation, the accused is alleged to have disclosed that he had WhatsApp messages which pointed to an affair between the priest and the wife of the accused. The accused was said to have told the priest to "go hang himself" for engaging in the affair. Further, the accused was said to have threatened to complain against the priest to the police and a bishop..After a trial court took cognisance of the criminal charges against the accused man, he moved a plea before the High Court to quash the case. .The High Court opined that allowing criminal proceedings to continue in this case would lead to an abuse of the law and result in injustice. Accordingly, it allowed the plea of the accused and quashed the case against him. .Senior Advocate Sandesh J Chouta and Advocate Rakshith Kumar appeared for petitioner (accused).High Court Government Pleader KP Yashodha appeared for the State..[Read Order]
The Karnataka High Court recently quashed a criminal case filed against a man who was accused of abetting the suicide of a Christian priest..The accused man was booked in the case on allegations that he told the deceased priest to go "hang himself" for allegedly having an affair with the accused man's wife. A Bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna, however, observed that this is not enough to book the accused for the crime of suicide abetment. "The sole accused, husband of the lady with whom the deceased Father had certain relationship and had blunt out his anger and had uttered words ‘go and hang yourself’ cannot mean that it would become the ingredients of Section 107 of the IPC for it to become an offence under Section 306 (suicide abetment) of the IPC," the Court said. .The judge also echoed observations made by various courts that the human mind is an enigma, which cannot be fully understood to determine what may drive a person to die by suicide. "The reason for the deceased to commit suicide in the case at hand may be myriad, one of which could be the factum of him having illicit relationship with the wife of the petitioner, despite being the Father and Priest of a Church. It is trite that human mind is an enigma and the task of unraveling the mystery of human mind can never be accomplished," the April 22 judgment stated..The deceased priest was found hanging in a room on October 11, 2019. A criminal case was later lodged on February 26, 2020, against the accused. The accused was alleged to have had a telephone conversation with the deceased priest just before his death. The prosecution claimed that the priest had committed suicide as a result of the conversation with the accused man. In the telephone conversation, the accused is alleged to have disclosed that he had WhatsApp messages which pointed to an affair between the priest and the wife of the accused. The accused was said to have told the priest to "go hang himself" for engaging in the affair. Further, the accused was said to have threatened to complain against the priest to the police and a bishop..After a trial court took cognisance of the criminal charges against the accused man, he moved a plea before the High Court to quash the case. .The High Court opined that allowing criminal proceedings to continue in this case would lead to an abuse of the law and result in injustice. Accordingly, it allowed the plea of the accused and quashed the case against him. .Senior Advocate Sandesh J Chouta and Advocate Rakshith Kumar appeared for petitioner (accused).High Court Government Pleader KP Yashodha appeared for the State..[Read Order]
