15 yrs of marriage no ground to junk suicide abetment case: Karnataka high court

Bengaluru: Merely because a couple was married for 15 years and two children were born from the wedlock, the criminal case of abetment to suicide and cruelty cannot be quashed against the husband.The Karnataka high court made the observation while dismissing a petition filed by Manigandan, a resident of Vidyaranyapura.In his order, Justice M Nagaprasanna said the petitioner had to face the trial as there were materials to proceed against him as per the chargesheet.Manigandan married BA Varsha in 2011 and the couple had two sons. In 2022, Manigandan left home following a quarrel with his wife. However, he came back after persuasion by elders. On October 18, 2025, a quarrel broke out between the couple over painting the house. It is said that Manigandan physically abused his wife in front of their children and told her to leave the house. Immediately, Varsha rushed to the bedroom, locked it from inside, and died by suicide. Her father, P Adinarayana, filed a police complaint, and sections 85 (cruelty to married woman by husband or his relatives) and 108 (abetment to suicide) of BNS were invoked against Manigandan.Challenging the same, Manigandan argued that he took Varsha to hospital as a caring husband.Justice Nagaprasanna noted that the necessary ingredients for abetment were present against the petitioner and, in such a situation, as per the dictum of the Supreme Court, the accused had to come out clean in the trial.The complaint, chargesheet, and the statements recorded after the registration of the crime clearly indicated that there was proximity between the death and the husband as he was the one who was present and there was a squabble between the two.Merely because the husband and wife were married for 15 years and two children were born from the wedlock, it did not mean that the petitioner could be declared innocent by quashment of the proceedings, the judge added while rejecting the petition.