Kerala HC acquits woman convicted of killing her child; she says she was under a lot of mental stress

The verdict was delivered by Justices Raja Vijayaraghavan V and KV Jayakumar. | Photo credit: RK Nithin

The Mental Health Act, which protects a person from punishment under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) if they attempt suicide, has come to the rescue of a woman convicted and sentenced to life in prison for suffocating her 15-month-old baby in 2016, as she also tried to take her own life at the time.

Citing provisions of the law, the Kerala High Court acquitted a woman convicted by a sessions court in 2023, saying she was under severe mental stress and attempted suicide when the incident occurred.

The law, which came into force in 2018, was earlier deemed retrospective by the Kerala High Court.

In this case, the High Court said that the law was in force when the trial began in 2021 and therefore the Sessions Court should have taken it into account.

The verdict was delivered by Justices Raja Vijayaraghavan V and KV Jayakumar.

“The circumstances, prima facie, constituted material evidence relevant to the charge of attempted suicide. However, for reasons best known to the prosecution, no serious effort was made to establish the charge under Section 309 (attempt to commit suicide) IPC,” the court said.

“In the above circumstances, we are of the view that the provisions of Section 115 (presumption of severe stress in case of suicide attempt) of the Mental Health Act, 2017 would directly apply to the facts of this case and the complainant (accused) would be considered mentally stressed and could not be punished for any of the offenses under the IPC.

The prosecution argued that since the accused was acquitted of the offense under Section 309 IPC, the statutory presumption contemplated under Section 115 of the Mental Health Care Act, 2017 does not apply to the facts of this case.

The High Court rejected the plea saying that during the course of arguments before the trial court, the prosecution itself did not seriously deal with the charge under Section 309 IPC.

“Further, we find that the acquittal of the appellant under Section 309 IPC was not based on a positive finding that there was no attempt to commit suicide. On the contrary, the Sessions Judge appears to have proceeded on the basis of the relief granted by the public prosecutor and on the assumption that the prosecution has not established that the injuries sustained by the accused are, in our opinion, sufficient to cause death in the ordinary case. unsustainable,” it said.

The bench said that the reasoning adopted by the Sessions Judge that the offense under Section 309 IPC was not attracted merely because the injuries sustained on the wrists and elbows were not sufficient to cause death “cannot be sustained”.

“Such an interpretation goes beyond the plain language of the provision and overlooks the distinction between attempted suicide and the actual likelihood of death resulting from the acts committed”.

“Section 309 IPC focuses on the attempts and acts done to commit it and not on the ultimate severity or lethality of the injuries caused,” it said.

The High Court upheld the woman’s appeal and overturned her conviction and life sentence.

The woman challenged a Supreme Court decision in November 2023 that convicted her and sentenced her to life in prison for the murder of her child in February 2016.

(suicide prevention helpline: Disha – 1056, 0471-2552056)

Published – 12 June 2026 11:00 AM IST