2021 Badaun hate crime: Victim’s brother among four get life term

The court of additional sessions judge on Thursday convicted the woman’s brother, Rachit Kumar, along with father Pushpendra Kumar, uncle Chandrapal and cousin Kunwar Pal

A court in Uttar Pradesh’s Badaun district sentenced four men, including a woman’s father, brother and uncle, to life imprisonment for murdering her outside a police station in 2021 after allegedly opposing her love marriage.

A 20-year-old woman who had a love marriage was stabbed to death by her brother outside a police station in 2021. (For Representation)

The court of additional sessions judge on Thursday convicted the woman’s brother, Rachit Kumar, along with father Pushpendra Kumar, uncle Chandrapal and cousin Kunwar Pal. Rachit was fined ₹26,000, while the other three were each fined ₹25,000.

According to additional district government counsel Sanjeev Kumar Gupta, the incident took place in Badaun’s Dataganj area. Devendra Singh of Palia Gurjar village had a love marriage with Archana Yugal Bharti, 20, of Bareilly at an Arya Samaj temple in July 2021.

Archana’s family opposed the marriage. According to the prosecution, her brother Rachit had subsequently lodged a case accusing Devendra and his brothers of kidnapping Archana. On July 28, 2021, Devendra was taking Archana to Dataganj police station to record her statement when the accused allegedly waylaid them near the police station and attacked them.

Rachit allegedly attacked Archana with a knife and slit her throat leading to her death. Police arrested Rachit and Pushpendra at the spot along with the knife allegedly used in the crime. The other two accused were arrested later. After examining the evidence and statements of witnesses, the court held all four accused guilty and sentenced them to life imprisonment.