In Brief
A woman married for 13 months was found dead in a car. Her parents alleged the husband, father-in-law, and mother-in-law demanded dowry (Rs. 10 lakhs) and tortured her, driving her to suicide by poison. The trial court acquitted all three. The High Court reversed, convicting them under Section 304B (dowry death) and sentencing them to life. The Supreme Court allowed the appeal and restored acquittal, holding that the prosecution failed to prove unnatural death by poisoning—the post-mortem and forensic reports showed no poison, no poison was recovered, there were no injury marks, and medical evidence pointed to tuberculosis and eosinophilia as possible natural causes. The dowry demand evidence was riddled with contradictions. An appellate court cannot overturn acquittal without very substantial reasons.
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