Under Section 15 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872, COERCION is the committing or threatening to commit any act FORBIDDEN by the Indian Penal Code, or the unlawful detaining or threatening to detain any property. In this statutory sense, a THREAT TO COMMIT SUICIDE by one party to force the other to consent:

Section 15 of the Indian Contract Act defines COERCION as the committing or threatening to commit any act FORBIDDEN by the Indian Penal Code, or the unlawful detaining or threatening to detain property. Although suicide is not itself a punishable act under the IPC, the Indian courts (following the leading decision) hold that a THREAT TO COMMIT SUICIDE to procure consent amounts to COERCION within Section 15, because the threat puts the other party under duress. Consent obtained by such coercion renders the agreement voidable at the option of the coerced party. The extension of 'coercion' to a suicide-threat is a well-established, subtle point.