Karnataka High Court rules ball refusal is not abetment of suicide

The Karnataka High Court has ruled that refusing to return a child’s volleyball and instructing the child to bring his father to retrieve it does not constitute abetment of suicide. The decision, delivered by a bench comprising Justice HP Sandesh and Justice B Pramod, upheld the acquittal of two individuals accused under Section 305 of the Indian Penal Code.

The case involved the 2019 death of a child named Kiran. The prosecution argued that the accused caused mental distress by scolding the child and refusing to return a ball that had broken a glass pane, which allegedly led to the child's suicide. However, the Court found that the prosecution failed to establish the essential ingredients of abetment, noting there was no evidence of a positive act in close proximity to the suicide that drove the child to take his life.