Is mens rea for abetment of suicide to be gleaned from what goes on in the mind of the victim, or from the intention of the accused?

From the accused. Mens rea cannot be gleaned merely by what goes on in the mind of the victim; what constitutes mens rea is the intention and purpose of the alleged perpetrator as discernible from the conscious acts or words and the attendant circumstances. However harsh or severe the harassment, unless there is a conscious deliberate intention to drive another person to suicidal death, there cannot be a finding of abetment under Section 306.

Indian Penal Code, 1860 — s.306 — s.107 — Indian Evidence Act, 1872 — s.113A — s.113B — Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 — s.482 — Abetment of suicide — Proximate trigger — Mens rea — Indian Penal Code, 1860 — s.306 — Abetment of suicide — Proximate prior act required — Held: Even where harassment is constant and continued over a long period, a proximate prior act must be found before the suicide can be treated as its direct consequence. Continuous harassment alone cannot establish a positive instigation constituting abetment. (¶22) Indian Penal Code, 1860 — s.107 — Mens rea — Intention of the accused, not the victim’s mind — Held further: Mens rea is the intention and purpose of the alleged perpetrator, discernible from conscious acts or words — not what goes on in the mind of the victim. Without a conscious deliberate intention, however harsh the harassment, there is no abetment. (¶23) Indian Evidence Act, 1872 — s.113A — s.113B — Statutory presumptions — Proximate trigger confirmed — Held further: The presumptions aiding Sections 498A and 304B were enacted carefully incorporating the requirement of a proximate trigger, which therefore cannot be absent for abetment. Where the suicide note is suspect and no proximate trigger appears, quashing is right; appeals dismissed. (¶25, 28, 40)

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