IIT-B student suicide: What law says about abetment, instigation and ‘guilty mind’

MUMBAI: The recent death by suicide of a second-year IIT-Bombay student brought into sharp focus one of the most legally complex and emotionally charged areas of criminal law: abetment of suicide. At its core, the offence requires a trial court to ascertain whether a person’s words, actions, neglect or dereliction directly instigated and caused another individual to take their own life.IIT-B professor Suryanarayana Doolla has been booked for allegedly abetting the suicide and under provisions of the caste Atrocities Act, while the student Sahil Wakode’s parents, grieving an irreplaceable loss, launched a fast to demand his arrest for abetment too, an offence that attracts up to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment and fine.However, convictions in abetment-related cases remain difficult to secure. According to the National Crime Records Bureau report, only 26 of 210 trials completed in 2024 ended in conviction; 176 resulted in acquittal and eight ended in discharge.