The Supreme Court has upheld the conviction of a woman for abetting suicide of a young girl by calling her a ‘Prostitute’. The 26-year-old young girl had committed suicide in the year 1998 by setting herself on fire and had stated the reason for committing suicide in her dying declaration to be harsh and abusive words by another woman who called her a ‘Prostitute’.

The Trial Court had convicted the lady for instigating the young girl to commit suicide and sentenced her to imprisonment for a period of three years. However, on appeal, the High Court had upheld the conviction but reduced the sentence from three years to one year.

The SC, while upholding the order of the High Court, has stated that by a perusal of the dying declaration of the deceased, it can be seen that the deceased has clearly stated about her being verbally abused by the lady calling her a ‘Prostitute’.

While pronouncing the judgment, the SC stated that the deceased, being a 26-year-old unmarried girl, could have been upset over the verbal abuse by the woman which led her to end her life by setting herself on fire. Further, the Court has directed the lady to surrender to custody within four weeks to serve the remaining sentence.