New Delhi: An emotional promise to a judge that he would value his life in the future helped a youth convicted of an attempt to suicide escape a jail sentence.

"The convict has realized his mistake. He has all the remorse for his deeds. He has undertaken not to commit his mistake again," Metropolitan Magistrate Sanjay Bansal said in a recent order after Vinod Kumar confessed his guilt.

Kumar in his early 20s was let off after paying a fine of Rs 400. He had consumed a poisonous substance on September 26, 2002 in an apparent suicide attempt but was saved by his family members. A suicide note was also recovered from his pocket in which he had written that nobody was responsible and that some personal reasons led him to take the extreme step.

After recuperating in a hospital, he was arrested for the offence of attempting to commit suicide under Section 309 of the IPC which provides for a maximum punishment of one year in jail. The prosecution had produced several witnesses to establish its case against Kumar, a resident of Tilak Marg here, but he himself pleaded guilty and requested for a lenient view in the matter of punishment.

Moved by his plea that he would value his life and would never repeat his mistake in the future, the court observed that the ends of justice would meet if he is sentenced only to a pecuniary punishment and decided against sending him to jail.

Source : PTI