India, May 22 -- Her absolute lack of visible emotion, unflappable and chillingly cold demeanour, and brazen misogyny is not the only reason Giribala Singh is in the national spotlight. I did a double-take, recoiling more than once as I interviewed Singh after her daughter-in-law, former model and actor Twisha Sharma was found dead (allegedly) by hanging in her in-laws' house in Bhopal. I shuddered to think that Singh had been a district judge.

Think of all the female petitioners who would have brought their own chronicles of harassment, abuse, and domestic violence to her court. Would she have treated them with the contempt and character assassination she has reserved for her son's wife?

So, why was I interviewing an accused in a dowry...