Pune Court Discharges Youth In Techie Girl’s Death Case, Says ‘Suicide FIR By Her Father Was An Afterthought’
Mubarak Ansari
Pune, 25th April 2022: The Pune District and Sessions Court has discharged a youth who was booked for abetting suicide of his 23-year-old girlfriend in Kondhwa in 2017.
The court held that ‘on the basis of material on record it can be seen that it is the case of accidental death and that too by slip of leg from stairs.’
While issue order to discharge Prithviraj Deshmukh from the suicide case, Additional Sessions Judge Sunil Vedpathak stated, “From the statements of prosecution witnesses recorded by Investigating Officer at the most it appears that there was love affair between applicant (Deshmukh) and deceased Juhi Gandhi and there were quarrels between them on this or that reason. Nowhere the statements of prosecution witnesses suggest that accused by making any sort of omission or aiding instigated or abetted Juhi so as to compel her to commit suicide.
What are the allegations made in F.I.R. by the father of Juhi by causing a delay of 45 days and that too afterthought. Prior to the death of Juhi and till filing of F.I.R. admittedly there was no complaint of Juhi or her parents regarding any harassment caused by applicant of deceased Juhi in any manner. Moreover, no suicide note has been left by deceased Juhi blaming applicant for her death.”
As per complaint lodged by her father Nitin Gandh, a resident of Kondhwa, Pune city police’s Kondhwa police station had registered an FIR against Deshmukh on June 30, 2017, for offence under section 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Juhi died on May 16, 2017.
Juhi and Deshmukh studied at Sinhgad College of Engineering. She was her senior and had got placed as a project manager in a Bengaluru-based company.
As per the FIR, Deshmukh had a love affair with deceased Juhi. There were always quarrels between them. He forcibly caused her abortion and due to harassment of applicant she died by suicide by jumping down from 6th floor.
On the other hand, Deshmukh submitted “he never subjected her harassment or cruelty nor he caused her forceful abortion. Nothing was happened between them by which it can be said that he had abetted Juhi so as to commit suicide. On the day of the incident Juhi was making frequent phone calls, however, he had switched off his mobile phone as he was busy in his study because on the next day he was to appear for examination. Because of that Juhi got annoyed. She went to his room which he shared with four roommates and started a quarrel with him. When he was leaving his room, Juhi tried to follow him. Her leg slipped from the stairs and she fell down in the duct, sustained multiple injuries and succumbed to those injuries.”
He had informed her parents and rushed her to hospital.
The court observed, “Chargesheet also discloses that there was abortion of Juhi in Prerna Hospital. But, there is nothing on record to show that he constrained her for said abortion.”
The discharge order states, “after considering the chargesheet as a whole neither there appears harassment of late Juhi at the hands of Deshmukh nor there appears instigation by the accused by his acts or omission created such circumstances that deceased Juhi was left with no other option except to commit suicide. So mere quarrel between Juhi and applicant on the day of incident without harassment or without any positive action on the part of applicant proximate to the time of occurrence which lead to the suicide does not amount to offence under Section 306 of IPC.”
Pune based Supreme Court and High Court’s Advocate Aashutosh Srivastava, who represented Deshmukh submitted that neither his client and the deceased were well acquainted and having love with each other but, he never subjected her to harassment or cruelty nor he caused her forceful abortion. Nothing was happened between them by which it can be said that he had abetted the deceased so as to commit suicide.”
