Case of Neha XYZ who was accused of Abetment of suicide under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code. Her case was widely covered by the media.

GIST OF THE CASE

Neha xyz had married Aman xyz on 11/12/2020 under pressure of Arman’s parents. After marriage the couple often had arguments as noted and officially stated by their landlady Reema Abc. Arman was unemployed and was going through mental turmoil due to financial crisis. He wanted to start a business however his father did not support him and Neha who was working before marriage invested money on him. Negativity amongst the couple started escalating further when Neha went to Delhi to visit her brother on 31/03/2021 Aman was suspicious that she was having an illicit affair with someone and fights would often erupt between the couple.

Aman after one such quarrel on 08/04/2021 committed suicide by hanging himself.Later the post mortem dated 09/04/21 stated death was due to hanging. FIR was lodged by Aman’s father on 12/04/2021 accusing Neha of Abetment of suicide of his son.

THE TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS OF THE CASE

Various accusations were made like Neha often went to parties without informing Aman and neglected her husband and demanded money from him etc. Neha was even accused of having other illicit relations with someone else and they further elaborated that she went to meet someone else in Delhi. The FIR mentioned that she had taken a video of Aman committing suicide. Howeverit was later established that Aman often threatened and emotionally blackmailed her saying he would commit suicide. Due to this reason the media widely covered the case. Neha was taken into Judicial custody  and her plea for bail was rejected on 13/04/21 keeping her in custody till 27/04/21.

Advocate Rajesh Kshetry left no stone unturtned to provide relief for Neha.He pleaded with the court that it was extremely dangerous for Neha to stay in Correctional Facility during the severe bout of Covid 19. He provided the court with statements from theirlandlady who stated that she had heard the couple quarrelling on the day Aman committed suicide and she even tried to intervene but was told by Aman that it was a minor argument. Furthermore our esteemed advocate provided proof from Kajal xyz who was actually the daughter of a friend of Neha’s mother who stated officially that infact Neha had visited her in Delhi and had stayed with her which would deem ambigous statements made about Neha regarding her character untrue.Finally after a long struggle and determined effort from Mr. Kshetry it was later on  established in court that Neha was wrongfully accused on and very vague accusations were made against her in the FIR. Mr. Kshetry also pointed out that the FIR was delayed and the statements made therein were inadequate and inefficient to charge someone under Section 306 of the IPC. There was no further reason to detain her as she was a permanent resident of Howrah and on being released there would be no hindrance to the investigation of the case and she would not evade the process of Law.

Finallyafter being detained for almost two months the unparralled efforts of Mr. Kshetry paid off and on 21/05/2021 bail was granted to Neha and the case was disposed because it wasestablished that ultimate reason for Aman’s suicide was the economic fall and financial frustration. The accusations made against Neha about her demand for money was out of question since she was already aware of Aman’s poor financial status.The initial judgment was found erroneous in nature and there were several mistakes in the investigation and no grounds of recording any video the act of the suicide could not be established.