Vague Allegations Of Dowry Case Implication Threats By Wife & Her Family Not Enough To Prove Abetment Of Suicide: Delhi High Court

A Bench of Justice Neena Bansal Krishna held, “The only allegation being made was that the wife, used to threaten the deceased, that he and his family members would be implicated in false dowry case and that she also used to get those threats extended through her brothers. Such vague assertions cannot be sufficient to prove that without there being any specific incident or dates to conclude them to be acts of abetment.”

The Court added, “There are general allegations of continuous threats of false implication in dowry cases. It may be a case where the deceased was unhappy and dejected with his marriage but definitely, no act of abetment can be made out either from the suicide note or from the testimony of the parents.”

Background

The deceased’s father had filed an appeal challenging the trial court’s acquittal order. It was alleged that shortly before the suicide, the deceased had an argument with his wife. The family of the deceased claimed that the wife and her relatives frequently harassed him and issued threats of implicating him and his family in a false dowry case.

The father also submitted a suicide note to the police after his son’s death, purportedly written by the deceased, which claimed that he had been harassed and driven to take the extreme step by his wife and her family. However, the Court noted several discrepancies in the prosecution's claims and evidence.

Findings

The Court carefully examined the suicide note and found that it lacked essential details such as a date, raising doubts about whether it was written contemporaneously with the suicide. The note, according to the Court, did not refer to any specific incident or proximate act that could be construed as direct incitement or provocation.

The Court also referred to the testimonies of the deceased’s parents, who had stated that the wife had behaved cruelly and even attempted suicide multiple times once by trying to burn herself with a gas cylinder, and another time by consuming acid. However, these incidents, according to the Court, reflected the wife’s own mental state rather than any instigation or cruelty toward the deceased.

“Her attempt to commit suicide, only reflects her mental state and unhappiness, but it establishes no act that can be termed as an act of cruelty towards the Appellant and his family. Admittedly, her alleged acts of cruelty in attempting to commit suicide was never reported by the Appellant (deceased's father) or his family members to the Police,” the Court said.

The High Court emphasized that no clear or proximate cause had been shown that directly led to the deceased’s suicide, nor was there any evidence of the wife or her family aiding or instigating the act.

Upholding the trial court’s order, the High Court dismissed the appeal filed by the deceased's father and reaffirmed the acquittal of the wife and her family members. The Court said, “In the absence of any evidence of there being any kind of instigation, encouragement or aiding on the part of the Respondents No. 2 to 6, it cannot be said that they were guilty of any act, which could be termed as abetment to drive the deceased to commit suicide.”

Cause Title: Shiv Shankar v. State & Ors., [2025:DHC:5457]

Appearance:

Respondents: Advocates Shoaib Haider, Aashish George, Jibin Jose