Human mind an enigma, there can be myriad reasons for suicide, says SC acquitting man charged with abetting it

The top court said there was no evidence on the basis of which it can hold the appellant guilty of abetting the suicide of the deceased.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday said human mind is an enigma and there could be myriad of reasons for suicide as it set aside conviction of a man of abetment of suicide of a B Com girl from Karnataka's Mysuru.

A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Ujjal Bhuyan said it is not always that someone has to abet suicide. The court found glaring omissions in the prosecution case, making it wholly unsustainable to uphold conviction of Kumar alias Shiva Kumar, in view of contradictions in statements of prosecution witnesses, including father of the victim.

In the case, the bench noted as per post mortem report, the victim was found to have died of Organophosphate, a pesticide. But the prosecution had failed to recover any syringe or needle from the crime scene and no container or bottle containing the pesticide were also recovered from the room where the deceased was found lying on the floor, it said.

"In a case of death by poisoning, be it homicidal or suicidal and which is based on circumstantial evidence, recovery of the trace of poison consumed by or administered to the deceased is of critical importance. It forms a part of the chain; rather it would complete the chain to prove homicide or suicide," the bench said. 

The court did not find any evidence on the basis of which it can hold the appellant guilty of abetting the suicide of the deceased. 

"While the death of a young woman is certainly very tragic, it cannot be said with any degree of certainty that suicide has been proved; the other essential ingredient constituting the offence under Section 306 IPC, viz, abetment cannot also be said to have been proved," the bench said.

The bench also said human mind is an enigma and it is well-nigh impossible to unravel the mystery of the human mind.

It pointed out there can be myriad reasons for a man or a woman to commit or attempt to commit suicide: it may be a case of failure to achieve academic excellence, oppressive environment in college or hostel, particularly for students belonging to the marginalised sections, joblessness, financial difficulties, disappointment in love or marriage, acute or chronic ailments, depression, so on and so forth. 

"Therefore, it may not always be the case that someone has to abet commission of suicide. Circumstances surrounding the deceased in which he finds himself are relevant," the bench said.

The court set aside the Karnataka High Court's order which had in 2010 upheld the trial court's order of conviction and three years sentence to the appellant in 2004.