Assam: SC Acquits Woman Who Was Awarded Life Imprisonment For Allegedly Murdering Husband

The Supreme Court on October 31 acquitted a woman in Assam who had been convicted of murdering her husband when she was last seen with him before his murder. One more evidence that put her behind bars was that she did not cry at her husband’s death.

The top court set aside the Guwahati High Court’s decision which awarded life-imprisonment to her. This decision came as a relief to the woman who was already spending her days behind bars for the last five years, as reported by Financial Express.

Supreme Court to the rescue

Although the Guwahati High Court heavily relied on the theory of the woman being last seen with her husband and the lower court said that she could not clearly explain the circumstances, the Supreme Court set the woman free. The apex court refusing to accept the reasoning of the trial court and Guwahati High Court which pointed at her “unnatural conduct” at her husband’s murder as evidence to prove her guilty beyond doubt.

Reportedly, Justices R F Nariman and Navin Sinha said that the circumstantial evidence was not enough to conclude that she is guilty of killing her husband and asked for her immediate release from custody.

The bench said that the fact that she did not weep at her husband’s unnatural death, which was referred to as an unnatural conduct, is not adequate to convict her. “The appellant is in a helpless situation may have been stunned into a shock of disbelief by the death of her husband. It is not uncommon human behaviour that on the death of a near relative, or upon witnessing a murderous assault, a person goes into complete silence and stupor showing no reaction or sensibility,” said the bench.

Evidence against the woman

The Supreme Court said that multiple injuries on the body of the woman’s dead husband indicated that it is the work of more than one assailant. It also said that taking into account that the deceased was of average build, it is difficult to accept that a woman may have committed the murder with a knife without resistance and without being injured herself. “Mere invocation of the last seen theory, sans the facts and evidence in the case, will not suffice to shift the onus upon the accused,” said the court.

Since the possibility that the murder could have taken place in some other way cannot be ruled out completely, the appellant has been acquitted on the benefit of the doubt.

The Logical Indian urges authorities to find out the truth and convict the true criminal as soon as they can.

Also Read: Assam: Villagers Shame, Beat Couple And Shave Woman’s Head In Another Case Of Moral Policing