Kerala HC Acquits Woman Convicted of Killing Infant, Cites Mental Healthcare Act

The Kerala High Court has set aside the conviction and life sentence of a woman accused of smothering her 15-month-old child in 2016, ruling that she was suffering from severe mental stress and was entitled to protection under the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 .

A division bench of justices Raja Vijayaraghavan V and K V Jayakumar held that the woman had attempted suicide around the time of the incident by consuming a large number of paracetamol tablets, injuring her wrists and leaving behind a suicide note. These circumstances, the court said, attracted the presumption of severe stress under Section 115 of the Mental Healthcare Act .

The court rejected the prosecution's argument that the protection could not apply because the woman had been acquitted of the charge of attempt to suicide under Section 309 of the IPC. It observed that the acquittal was not based on a finding that no suicide attempt had occurred, but on the prosecution's failure to properly establish the charge.

The High Court further noted that the Mental Healthcare Act was in force when the trial commenced in 2021 and should have been considered by the Sessions Court, which convicted the woman in 2023. Accordingly, it allowed her appeal and ordered her release.

The judgment highlights the growing role of mental health considerations in criminal justice , particularly in cases involving individuals facing extreme psychological distress. It also underscores the importance of legal safeguards for vulnerable women , especially those alleging prolonged domestic abuse, harassment and dowry-related cruelty.

Legal observers say the ruling reinforces the principle that courts must carefully assess mental health conditions and the surrounding circumstances before determining criminal liability in such sensitive cases.