In Brief
Fulwa Devi was married to Ram Sahay Mahto in 1997 and died under abnormal circumstances within months of marriage. Her family alleged that the husband and in-laws demanded dowry of Rs. 20,000 and a motorcycle, and harassed her severely for failing to provide it. She disappeared from her matrimonial home and her skeleton was found in a river five days later. The trial and High Court convicted both the husband and the mother-in-law. The Supreme Court upheld the husband's conviction under Section 304B IPC (dowry death) based on circumstantial evidence and the presumption under Section 113B of the Indian Evidence Act. However, the Court acquitted the mother-in-law, finding that only omnibus allegations without specific evidence supported her conviction.
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