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Supreme Court Upholds Abetment Conviction in Pratyusha Case, Orders Reddy to Surrender

The ruling cements the principle that a survivor in a suicide pact can be guilty of abetment.

Overview

  • Dismissed appeals by Gudipalli Siddhartha Reddy and by Pratyusha’s mother, with the court directing Reddy to surrender within four weeks.
  • The bench affirmed a two-year jail term for abetment to suicide, rejecting the defence of accidental poisoning.
  • Judges ruled out murder and rape, finding overwhelming ocular and medical evidence that Pratyusha died from organophosphate poisoning identified as Nuvacron.
  • The court held that mutual participation in a suicide pact can constitute abetment under Sections 107 and 306 of the IPC.
  • The judgment criticised postmortem doctor B. Muni Swamy for an unprofessional and prematurely publicised strangulation claim that distorted public perception.