Balika Vadhu actor Pratyusha Banerjee with Rahul Raj Singh
The registration of a criminal case of abetment of suicide by Mumbai Police in 2016 against the accused had led legal experts at the time to raise an eyebrow and question the haste. Pratyusha ‘s mother had recorded a statement with the Bangur Nagar police, on the basis of which the FIR was filed under Sections 306, 323 and 506 of the erstwhile Indian Penal Code. The Supreme Court in a landmark judgment in 2010 tried to clear the confusion. Section 107 of the Indian Penal Code, which defines ‘abetment’, says the accused must consciously instigate someone to commit suicide.
Evidence of abetment has to be more than a mere allegation that the suicide was committed due to the harassment by another person. In Pratyusha’s case, it is not clear at this stage why the abetment charge has been added, as the police have not revealed what her mother has stated. You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Mumbai | Silver Rate in Mumbai | Bank Holidays in Mumbai | Public Holidays in Mumbai | Mumbai AQI | Weather in Mumbai | Petrol Price in Mumbai | Diesel Price in Mumbai | CNG Price in Mumbai | LPG Price in Mumbai Stay updated with the latest Mumbai news.
Legally, what is required for the abetment charge to be attracted is cogent, independent evidence to show there was “actual instigation” by the person blamed. The act of instigation must be “active”, courts have held. Lawyers have often decried the practice of police arresting and accusing for abetment of suicide anyone named in a “suicide note” without doing adequate investigation first. By itself, a video recording by the person does not have any value as evidence of abetment,” said veteran criminal counsel Shrikant Bhat. It said there has to be a “clear intent” for the offence to convict a person for abetment to suicide. The bench of Justices Dalveer Bhandari and A K Patnaik had ruled, “…in order to convict a person under section 306 (abetment to suicide) of IPC, there has to be a clear mens rea (clear intent) to commit the offence”.
it was the invocation of abetment to suicide that was the bone of contention While offences of criminal intimidation and assault were also invoked. In the past, police were also quick to file abetment-to-suicide cases against actor Suraj Pancholi in the case of suicide by actor Jiah Khan. The case is still pending, as her mother Rabia Khan has also sought an independent probe by US agencies into the death, alleging murder. Suraj Pancholi, son of Aditya, had been arrested in the case for abetment to suicide as he was Jiah’s boyfriend. Rabia’s claim is that her daughter was murdered by someone close to her. “Abetment connotes active instigation to commit the specific act of suicide. It is not necessary for every suicide case to have an abetment angle, legal experts say. The police ought to investigate each suicide case to rule out foul play. They added: “Abetment involves a mental process of instigating a person or intentionally aiding a person in doing a thing. The punishment attracted seven years. Download the TOI App.
The prosecution case is that on 01/04/2016, around 4pm, the daughter of the complainant, Pratyusha Banerjee, who was an actress by profession, committed suicide at her residence in Mumbai. The mother said she had learnt about it that evening and lodged the complaint on 05/04/2016 against actor Rahul Singh, alleging she had committed suicide due to his harassment.
His lawyers, senior counsel Aabad Ponda and advocate Shreyans Mithare, questioned the haste in lodging the FIR without even a suicide note and said any evidence forcing the case to go forward to trial would be an abuse of process. His discharge plea argued, among other grounds, that he “was the one who tried to save her life by giving her mouth-to-mouth respiration and by taking her immediately to the hospital, which can be seen by the statement of a witness … a neighbour … a first person to see” and also a key maker. The HC also relied on submissions by the senior counsel about conversations which sought to highlight that he had loved and cared for her. “The last conversation recorded between deceased and Accused demonstrates that he infact tried to convince her from not taking any drastic steps and expressed his love towards the deceased, which shows that there is no case of abetment, it was argued and it weighed heavily with the HC. Ponda argued that the sessions judge who rejected his discharge plea had “committed gross error in considering that the material available in the chargesheet is enough to prima facie reflect or show the involvement of the Applicant in the present crime. in this case there is a lack of any note, even a handwritten one While legal experts have pointed out that even a suicide note left in the form of a video recording on a cellphone or any other electronic device is by itself no proof of abetment.
MUMBAI: Justice S G Dige of the Bombay high court on Wednesday discharged actor-turned-producer Rahul Raj Singh, accused in the TV actor Pratyusha Banerjee suicide abetment decade-old case.