A Delhi court has acquitted a woman named Swati of abetting her husband’s suicide, ruling that ordinary matrimonial discord does not constitute criminal liability under Section 306 of the IPC.

According to the prosecution, Amit committed suicide by hanging on July 20, 2015, in a rented room in Munirka. The couple had married on February 22, 2015, and Swati was pregnant at the time.




The prosecution claimed that Swati used to quarrel with her husband over his small mobile shop and pressed him to take a job.

The charge, framed in June 2017, was that she abetted the suicide by “mentally torturing” her husband.

Police relied on a suicide note, according to which the deceased was “very upset” with his wife, who “day and night” accused him of an affair that he said was not true.

The court noted that the witnesses admitted that the quarrels were only verbal, that no complaint was made to the police or any relative, and that they had known Amit ran a mobile shop even before the wedding.




It said that even if some harsh words were spoken, they appeared to be an isolated utterance in anger, instead of instigation as they were not backed by any intention that the husband should actually die.

The court said that the decision to commit suicide may be influenced by the individual’s subjective experience of mental pain, fear, humiliation, loss of self-esteem, hopelessness or an inability to cope with perceived circumstances of which the other spouse may not be aware.

It said there is no evidence of any active, direct or intentional act on her part immediately before the occurrence which would leave her husband with no alternative except suicide.