Bombay High Court grants bail to 20-year-old booked after his "indifferent reaction" to girlfriend's pregnancy led to her suicide

The Bombay High Court recently granted bail to a 20-year-old who was booked for abetment of suicide of his minor girlfriend after he had allegedly reacted "indifferently" to a WhatsApp message from her informing him that she was pregnant [Kunal Chabu Doke vs State of Maharashtra]. .Single-judge Justice Bharati Dangre noted from the medical evidence produced before the Court that the deceased girl was not pregnant but had taken the extreme step after she had missed her periods by two weeks and a test using a pregnancy kit had returned a positive result. "In order to invoke offence under Section 306 of the IPC i.e. abetment to commit suicide, it is necessary to establish its ingredients, being instigation/incitement for the deceased to commit suicide. The sudden reaction of the applicant to the news of pregnancy, may fall short of it," the Court said.It, therefore, granted bail to the accused Kunal Chabu Doke in view of his young age and considering the fact that the investigation was complete.As per the prosecution case, the boy and the girl had met on social media platform Instagram and became friends. On February 27, 2021, the girl's mother had pulled up the accused for allegedly harassing the girl.On the day prior to her suicide, the girl told the boy over WhatsApp that she might be pregnant.However, the accused was not bothered and paid no heed to her request to find a solution to the issue. He even abused her after which she died by suicide.Doke was booked by the Mumbai Police under charges of abetting suicide (Section 306 IPC), rape (Section 376 IPC) and criminal intimidation (Section 506 IPC) besides the relevant offences under the Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.The judge noted that the boy had acted indifferently when the deceased, who was 16 years old at the relevant time, had informed him that she was pregnant. The accused had abused her in filthy language on March 2, 2021 and she died by suicide on March 3, 2021."The applicant, at the time of incident, was merely 19 years old and he has reacted in an indifferent manner which can be seen from the WhatsApp chat. The chat also reveals that the two were sharing proximate relationship," the Court said..However, the Court noted that the medical reports didn't not show any signs of pregnancy and the reason for death of the victim was asphyxia due to hanging."In this unfortunate incident, the victim girl took extreme step on being revealed that she had missed her periods by two weeks and on the basis of some pregnancy test where it was revealed to her that she was pregnant. Hence, she established contact with the Applicant on her WhatsApp and immediately when he expressed indifferent approach, she took the extreme step of hanging herself in the house," the bench noted.It, therefore, granted bail to the accused subject to furnishing bail bond of ₹25,000 and two sureties of the same amount. "Considering the young age of the applicant, his incarceration on the completion of investigation is unwarranted. He shall ultimately face the consequences of his acts, when he shall face the trial," the Court ordered..The single-judge also made it clear that her observations are for the limited purpose of determination of bail plea and the trial court should hold the trial uninfluenced by the High Court's observations..Advocate Shantanu Phanse appeared for the accused while advocate Jaideep Thakur appeared for the victim's mother.Additional Public Prosecutor S V Gavand represented the State..[Read Order]