Twitter
Advertisement

Refusing to move to new home with wife not abetment: Bombay HC

A man cannot be held guilty of leading his wife to suicide by disagreeing to live separately with her, the Bombay high court has ruled.

Latest News
article-main
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

A man cannot be held guilty of leading his wife to suicide by disagreeing to live separately with her, the Bombay high court has ruled.

Setting aside the order of a sessions court that had ordered the prosecution of Anand Kandewale, 36, whose wife, Sandhya, had committed suicide by consuming poison, justice JH Bhatia held last week, “merely because the husband did not agree to take a separate house, due to which relations between the two got strained, it can’t be held that the husband had subjected her to such a cruelty that would drive her to commit suicide.”

After Sandhya’s death on September 14, 2005, her father, Prabhakar Shrotri, filed a complaint against Kandewale and his friends Rekha and Vivek Dhamankar who lived in the same Pune flat as Sandhya and Anand.

Shrotri, in his complaint, had stated that Sandhya had mentioned to him that she did not like living with the other couple. She was upset about the fact that Anand had purchased a washing machine in Vivek’s name with the money that her father had given her and also complained that the other couple intruded in their family matters.

Sandhya consumed poison after Anand left the house, leaving behind a note that said that nobody should try to find him until he returns.

The police had filed a charge sheet against Anand, Rekha and Vivek on suicide abetment and cruelty charges. An assistant sessions judge had discharged the trio, but an additional sessions judge upheld the discharge order only for Rekha and Vivek and ordered the prosecution of Anand, in a revision application.

Shrotri challenged the discharge granted to the other couple while Anand challenged his prosecution in the high court.Shrotri had contended that Sandhya had been married to Anand only for four months and had ended her life due to the continuous harassment in her matrimonial home.

The court, however, said that Anand should have respected his wife’s feelings and made other arrangements, but there was no evidence to show that he had subjected Sandhya to an extent of cruelty that led her to commit suicide.

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement