Girls sacrificing their Love and accepting parents’ decision, is a Common Practice: SC
The apex Court in its recent case observed that the decision of girls to sacrifice her love and accept a decision of her parents, even though unwillingly, is a common phenomenon in this country. The court observed this in a case that set aside the conviction and life imprisonment of a man who had survived a pact with a woman to commit suicide immediately after secretly entering into wedlock.
While the woman could not be saved in the incident of 1995, the man suffered the ordeal as the police booked him for the offence of killing her. A bench of J. A K Sikri and J. Ashok Bhushan observed that the woman might have first “unwillingly” agreed to go by her parents’ wish but garlands, bangles and vermilion were found shows that she had apparently changed her mind.
The victim and the accused loved each other. The father of the woman had also testified in the court that due to caste differences and resisted nod to their marriage. The accused confessed before the trial court that her family did not agreed to marriage. They then decided to commit suicide by consuming cooper sulphate.
The accused consumed much less amount of copper sulphate than the woman. As her health deteriorated, he went out of the building to seek help from neighbours. When he returned, he found the woman hanging. The man’s version of the incident was held as “plausible”. Further, as per accused’s statement, the woman was physically abused by her family and was mercilessly beaten even on the day of incident.
The man was held for killing her and life imprisonment was awarded by a trial court which was subsequently upheld by the Rajasthan High Court.
The Court remarked that she had been madly in love with the appellant and wanted to marry him. In such case, there exist a definite possibility of receiving such kind of shabbily treatment at the hands of her parents and in anguish she might have decided to revolt. It further observed that there might be a possibility that when the man was not able to get the woman he wanted, he might go to the extent of killing her. He would never want to see her other person. This might be the motive in his mind. But, to this there is no evidence. So, it is not at all possible for the prosecution to state any such things as whatever actually happened on the suicide.
The bench finally observed that criminal cases cannot be decided on the basis of hypothesis. It acquitted the man on the ground that the prosecution has not been able to prove his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
