The Bombay High Court has granted bail to a woman, her sister, and her mother in a case involving allegations of intimidation, fraud, and preventing the suicide of a man in June this year in Maharashtra’s Solapur district.
The court highlighted the lack of concrete evidence to clarify the cause of the incident and also noted that the allegations that he wanted money were “impossible”.
According to the details of the case, the man who committed suicide had developed a relationship with the accused woman, a resident of Pandharpur, after her marriage failed.
It is said that the woman and her family started abusing the man demanding money of R10 lakh and threatening to file criminal charges against him. The accused is said to have died by suicide in June this year, the case was opened by one of his friends.
The complaint states that, since May 30, the deceased informed his friend about the threats and pressure of the woman and her family. It was also alleged that, under these circumstances, the man saw that there was no other option but to kill himself.
Advocate Piyush Toshnival, who represented the woman and her family, denied that these allegations are baseless because no complaint has been filed against her and her family regarding the allegations of abuse. Toshnival also spoke about the woman’s bank statements, which revealed that two days before the alleged suicide, she had transferred R30 000 to the man.
“This is a falsification of what the investigative unit said and the report that the applicants were demanding money from the deceased,” said the lawyer, adding that the suspects – all women – are ready to cooperate with the investigation.
Regarding the alleged delay in opening an FIR regarding the harassment of the woman, Public Prosecutor Mayur Sonavane informed the court that the incident was reported as an accidental death. However, subsequent inquiries revealed that the applicants threatened and blamed the deceased, leaving him with no way to die by suicide.
However, Justice Manish Pitale did not consider this argument about delay in registration of FIR and said, “this Court is of the view that delay of more than three months is a factor to be considered”.
The bench saw that although there were allegations of threats and kidnapping since May, “there was a lack of evidence to indicate the cause of the incident just before the deceased took a serious step”.
Additionally, the bench noted that, even on the day of the suicide, the accused and the deceased were communicating, and both were in love.
The Supreme Court further said that the allegations that the accused is demanding Rs 10 lakh appear to be “baseless.” It revealed that there is an exchange of money between the deceased and the woman; however, “such amount is small and prima facie inconsistent with the alleged extortion and threats” against the woman.
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