V. K. AGRAWAL, J. ( 1 ) THE accused/appellant stands convicted under S. 306 of I. P. C. and has been sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for seven years therefor, for abetting his wife Nazbun Niza to commit suicide, by judgment dt. 9-1-1998 in Sessions Trial No. 319/93 by IInd Additional Sessions Judge, Ambikapur, District Sarguja. ( 2 ) UNDISPUTABLY, the deceased-Nazbun Niza was the second wife of appellant-Sayeed Miyan. They were married about 2 years prior to the incident. Makhzabun (P. W. 11) is the first wife of appellant. ( 3 ) THE prosecution case stated in brief is that, the accused/appellant was continuously maltreating and beating the deceased, on account of which she felt frustrated and used to complain about the maltreatment to her parents. Prior to the date of incident also the accused/appellant had assaulted her. Probably feeling frustrated the deceased-Nazbun Nisa committed suicide by consuming some poisonous substance. The matter was reported by Aashik Miyan (P. W. 1 ). ( 4 ) THE inquest report (Ex. P-6) on the dead body of deceased-Nazbun Nisa was prepared. It was sent for post-mortem examination. Dr. B. R. Sharma (P. W. 8) conducted post-mortem examination. He found that the body was swollen and blisters were present and skin peeled off easily. There was a diffused contusion bluish in colour over the right side of temporal region, which was ante-mortem in nature. Because the body had decomposed, therefore, no definite opinion regarding cause of death was given. Viscera was preserved. Post-mortem examination report is (Ex. P7 ). After concluding investigation, charge-sheet was filed against the appellant. ( 5 ) THE accused/appellant abjured guilt to the charge under S. 306 of I. P. C. framed against him by the trial Court. His defence was that he has been falsely implicated. The learned trial Court found that the accused/appellant constantly subjected the deceased to cruelty, due to which she was left with no option, but to commit suicide. Accordingly, the appellant was convicted and sentenced as mentioned earlier. ( 6 ) LEARNED counsel for appellant has urged that the accused/appellant did not abet the commission of suicide by the deceased. There is no direct evidence that he subjected the deceased to cruelty and that even if some injury was found on the person of deceased in the post-mortem examination, he was not the author of the same. ( 6 ) LEARNED counsel for appellant has urged that the accused/appellant did not abet the commission of suicide by the deceased. There is no direct evidence that he subjected the deceased to cruelty and that even if some injury was found on the person of deceased in the post-mortem examination, he was not the author of the same. Therefore, relying upon the case of Mewalal v. State of M. P. , 1992 Cri LR (MP) 502 it has been urged that he could not be convicted under S. 306 of I. P. C. ( 7 ) FROM the statements of Mohd. Rais, (P. W. 4) and Sakina (P. W. 5), the parents of deceased-Nazbun Nisa, it would appear that she was married to appellant about two years prior to her death. The statement of Mohd. Rais (P. W. 4) would disclose that her daughter Nazbun Nisa had complained about the frequent beating given to her by the appellant. He has also stated that in the month of 'kartik' prior to the incident, when he visited his daughter Nazbun Nisa, he found that she had a burn injury on her leg. Nazbun Niza informed him that the accused/appellant had struck her with a burning log. ( 8 ) SIMILAR is the statement of his wife Sakina (P. W. 5 ). She has stated that the accused/appellant continuously and persistently used to torture and harass her daughter-deceased Nazbun Nisa. She was not given proper food and clothes and was also beaten by the appellant. She has also stated that the accused/appellant had assaulted the deceased with a burning log, resulting in burn injury. When she tried to pacify the matter, the accused/appellant had told Sakina (P. W. 5) that he will persist in his behaviour and would give much more torture to her daughter - the deceased. She states that since they were poor persons, her daughter was being tortured in the above manner. ( 9 ) THE statements as above are natural and there appears to be no reason why the above witnesses would make a false statement against the appellant. The post-mortem conducted by Dr. B. R. Sharma (P. W. 8) also discloses that there was a diffused contusion bluish in colour, over the right side of temporal region of the deceased. The above injury was ante-mortem in nature. The post-mortem conducted by Dr. B. R. Sharma (P. W. 8) also discloses that there was a diffused contusion bluish in colour, over the right side of temporal region of the deceased. The above injury was ante-mortem in nature. The above finding also corroborates the statement as above, that the accused/appellant used to beat the deceased and it appears that immediately prior to her death also, the deceased was beaten by the appellant. The accused/appellant offered no explanation as to how the above injury was caused on the person of deceased. ( 10 ) VISCERA was chemically examined and the report of F. S. L. is available in the trial Court record, which indicates that the viscera contained pesticide - Andosulfan, which is chemical poison. Therefore, it is clear that the deceased committed suicide. The suicide as above appears to be a consequence of continuous maltreatment and beating by the appellant. She even sustained burn injury caused on account of accused/appellant having struck her with a burning log. All this clearly indicates that the deceased was subjected to cruelty within the meaning of Cl. (a) of explanation to S. 498-A of I. P. C. She has committed suicide within a period of about two years of her marriage, therefore presumption under S. 113-A of the Evidence Act is attracted. It will therefore be presumed that the accused/appellant abetted the commission of suicide by the deceased. 10a. In Mewalal's case (1992 Cri LR (MP) 502) (supra) relied upon by the learned counsel for appellant the facts were different. The deceased was not the wife of accused/appellant and it was found that there was no convincing evidence that the deceased was being beaten by the accused and the accused was found to be absent at the time of commission of suicide by the deceased. Accordingly, in that case it was held that the offence under S. 306 of I. P. C. was not made out against the appellant. ( 11 ) IN Gurbachan Singh v. Satpal Singh, AIR 1990 SC 209 : (1990 Cri LJ 562) it has been held by the Apex Court that the accused persistently tortured the deceased for not bringing sufficient dowry and made insinuations that she was carrying illegitimate child. The taunts and torture made her to take the extreme step of putting an end to her life by self-immolation. The taunts and torture made her to take the extreme step of putting an end to her life by self-immolation. It was held in that case that the suicide by the newly married girl deceased-Ravinder Kaur, was a result of instigation and abetment by the accused. Therefore, the finding of the trial Court in that regard, was held to be fully justified. ( 12 ) IN the instant case, the deceased-Nazbun Nisa is the wife of accused/appellant and she committed suicide within two years of her marriage with the appellant by consuming some poisonous substance. The evidence on record establishes that the appellant was demanding dowry and constantly harassing, torturing and beating the deceased; resulting in the deceased committing suicide. ( 13 ) IT may also be noticed in this connection that the first wife of accused/appellant Makhzabun (P. W. 11) has stated that she was also harassed by the appellant and his family members, due to which she obtained divorce from him and has remarried. Though, this may have no direct bearing on the commission of suicide by the deceased, but the above statement throws light on general habit and attitude of the accused/appellant towards his wife. ( 14 ) IN the circumstances, it is clear that the accused/appellant continuously subjected the deceased to cruelty and had also assaulted her just prior to her death, as would be evident from the contusion found on her head in the post-mortem report. Clearly, therefore the conduct of cruelty as above by the appellant had left the deceased with no option, but to bring an end to her life. Therefore, the accused/appellant instigated and abetted the commission of suicide by the deceased, as has been rightly held by the learned trial Court. The finding to the above effect calls for no interference. The sentence also does not appear to be excessive, in the facts and circumstances of the case. ( 15 ) THEREFORE, there is no substance in this appeal and the same is dismissed. The conviction as well as the sentence is maintained. Appeal dismissed. .