Hisar youth gets death sentence for killing 23-year-old sister
HISAR COURT VERDICT: Accused Ashok Kumar, a Jat, poisoned his elder sister to death, who had secretly married a man of Saini community against the wishes of the family
A local court on Wednesday awarded a death sentence to a man for killing his elder sister, who had secretly married a man of another community against the wishes of the family.
Accused Ashok Kumar, a resident of Juglan village of Hisar district who belongs to the Jat community, poisoned his 23-year-old sister Kiran to death on February 9, 2017. Ashok was 20-year-old at that time.
She married Rohtash Kumar of Saini community, who was resident of Siswal village of the same district.
Kiran, who was a nursing student, had married Rohtash, a private driver, on August 8, 2015.
After her death, Ashok had cremated Kiran’s body discreetly in the village crematorium, without informing anyone in the village.
The court of additional district and sessions judge, Dr Pankaj, had convicted the accused on November 29, 2018 and had reserved the pronouncement of quantum of punishment for December 5 (Wednesday).
Terming it as the “rarest of the rare case”, the court said, “There is overwhelming circumstantial evidence to show that the accused committed the crime as he felt that he was dishounred by his sister. Honour killing comes in the category of cool-minded and well planned murder.”
Observing that the victim was killed only because she opted for inter-caste marriage, the court said, “The caste system is the curse on the nation and the sooner it is destroyed the better. In fact, it is dividing the nation at a time when there is requirement to be united to face the challenges before it.”
The court said an honour killing involves “social breach of trust” and in the present case, the murder was committed by a brother, who is supposed to give protection to his sister as reflected by various festivals in the country. “Instead of (giving her) protection, the accused has killed his sister for false pride of family.”
Pronouncing the death verdict, the court added, “This case falls in the category of the rarest of rare.”
Talking to Hindustan Times, victim’s counsel Jitender Kush expressed satisfaction over the court verdict. “We faced big hurdles in the trial. The key witness in the case, victim’s husband Rohtash, had turned hostile into the matter.”
He claimed that this is the first honour killing case in Hisar wherein an accused has been awarded capital punishment.
Sanjay Chauhan, chairman, Sanatan Dharam Charitable Trust and a witness in the case said, “Kiran and Rohtash had got married in his presence. But the girl later returned to her parents’ home and gave a written statement that she will live with them. When the family of Kiran was looking for another match for her, she disclosed that she had got married to Rohtash. This angered her brother, who killed her.”
PHOTO Accused Ashok Kumar in police custody after he was awarded death sentence by a court in Hisar on Wednesday; (right) the accused with his wife Kiran after their marriage in 2015. HT PHOTO