The Supreme Court has observed that if the accused is found to have played in an active role in tarnishing the self-esteem and self-respect of the victim, which eventually draws the victim to commit suicide, he can be held guilty of abetment of suicide.

The bench observed thus while affirming the conviction of the accused Hem Karan alias Hemla, Ude Singh, Manoj and Daulat Ram, who drove a young girl to suicide. The facts of the case may be read from the judgment and the present report is confined to the legal aspects.

In the judgment, the court made some general observations about the offence of 'abetment of suicide' and the ingredients of the offence under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code.

Examining the facts of the case, the bench concluded that the accused persons had intentionally, with their incessant acts and utterances, goaded the victim girl to commit suicide. The present case indeed represents a sordid state of affairs in relation to the young girl in the rural setting, whose honour and self-esteem got brutally violated by none other but her own relatives, who found her to be the soft-target to settle their scores with her parents, the bench added.