The court acquits the man of the charge of inciting his wife to commit suicide

MUMBAI: A Dindoshi sessions court has acquitted a 25-year-old construction worker from Kandivali, who was accused of aiding his wife’s suicide by physically and mentally abusing him. The court acquitted him for lack of evidence.

The court acquits the man of inciting his wife to commit suicide

A complaint was lodged at the Kandivali police station by the father of the deceased woman, who had arranged the marriage of his daughter with accused Govind Gurkha in 2011. On the morning of August 5, 2013, he received a call from his daughter around 6 p.m., when she told him that her husband was beating her. At midnight he received a call that his daughter had set herself on fire because of her husband’s molestation.

The couple, born in Andhra Pradesh, came to Mumbai a few years after their marriage to work in construction. They were staying at a construction site in Kandivali where the incident took place.

The defense argued that the defendant’s father-in-law had falsely implicated him in the case because his wife wanted to marry another person. The defense argued that because her father refused to marry, she committed suicide.

The victim’s father told the court that her daughter told him over the phone that Gurkha regularly beats her, that she drinks constantly and does not bring home any groceries. According to her father, on the night of her death, Basappa’s brother called him to inform him that his daughter had died of burns caused by a fire.

The court noted that the deceased’s father did not visit her matrimonial home until her death. He also never visited her in Mumbai, the court said, adding that the father had not filed a single complaint regarding the molestation allegations.

“There is not an ounce of evidence to show that the accused committed any deliberate act with the deceased which forced her to commit suicide or caused her serious injuries,” additional sessions judge Ashwini Lokhande observed in a detailed order passed on October 19.

In deciding the case, the court said: “The prosecution woefully failed to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Therefore, the accused deserves to be acquitted.”