Daijiworld Media Network- Mumbai

Mumbai, Apr 16:In a significant ruling, a Mumbai sessions court has held that breaking a promise to marry does not amount to abetment to suicide, while granting anticipatory bail to a man accused in such a case.

The 24-year-old woman had died by suicide in December 2024, reportedly after discovering that the man she was in a relationship with was also involved with multiple other women, despite promising to marry her.

The court, however, observed:

"Only because there is a breach of promise to marry, it cannot be said that the person has committed abetment to suicide. The necessary intention for this offence is absent in such cases."

The prosecution, opposing the bail plea, alleged that the accused’s “immoral activities” led to the woman’s death and hence amounted to abetment.

The man, who had met the deceased via Facebook, allegedly developed a romantic and physical relationship with her under the pretext of marriage. However, she later discovered that he was in similar relationships with other women and had started cohabiting with another woman by November 2024. Devastated, the woman took her own life the following month.

While the court acknowledged the man’s conduct as immoral, it ruled that abetment to suicide requires a clear intention to provoke or instigate the act, which was missing in this case.

Notably, the court underlined that by September 2024, the woman was aware of his involvement with others, and by November, he was openly living with someone else. This, the court said, signaled a lack of commitment rather than a concealed betrayal.

The ruling underscores the legal threshold required to establish abetment to suicide, reaffirming that emotional distress alone, without intent or instigation, does not suffice for criminal liability under this charge.