India's Supreme Court upholds life sentence for husband in dowry murder case

The Supreme Court ruled that when an offence occurs within a house, the occupants must explain how the victim died. A bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and K V Viswanathan upheld the conviction and life sentence of Gour Acharjee for the murder of his wife Soma Acharjee and for cruelty under the 498A dowry‑protection law. The court found the medical evidence pointed to homicidal hanging, rejecting the husband's claim of suicide, and noted the victim had suffered severe dowry‑related torture before her death.

The judgment described the case as an “eye‑opener” and directed the Director General of Police in Tripura to form a team to locate the absconding husband and take him into custody.

The court quoted, “It is well settled that if an offence takes place inside the privacy of a house… there will be a corresponding burden on the inmates of the house to give a cogent explanation as to how the victim succumbed.”