In Brief
A woman married to Satye Singh died in a fire. Her father alleged the husband and mother-in-law caused her death in a dowry murder. Both the trial court and high court convicted them based on circumstantial evidence. The Supreme Court allowed the appeal and acquitted them, holding that the prosecution failed to establish a complete, unbroken chain of circumstances proving guilt beyond reasonable doubt. Mere suspicion that the couple had harassed the deceased for dowry, without proof of how the crime occurred or who caused the death, was insufficient. The Court reaffirmed that circumstantial evidence must meet strict legal standards and exclude every possible hypothesis except the accused's guilt.
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