The Madras High Court has acquitted a man who was sentenced to ten years imprisonment by a lower court on charges of abetting his wife's suicide.
The woman had ended her life in 2003 by jumping into a well along with her 18-month-old daughter as she was upset over her husband's extra marital affair.
In a recent order, Justice S Vaidyanathan said the illicit relationship per se would not come under the ambit of cruelty under IPC section 498 A (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty).
The judge, referring to IPC section 306, (abetment of suicide), said, "To constitute an offence under section 306, the prosecution has to establish beyond reasonable doubt that the deceased committed suicide and the accused abetted the commission of suicide."
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