Court sends 4 to life in jail for ‘honour killing’

In a strong note against honour killings, a Delhi court sentenced four men to life imprisonment. The accused, in June 2007, had lynched the brother of a man, who had secretly married a woman from their family.

In a strong note against honour killings, a Delhi court sentenced four men to life imprisonment. The accused, in June 2007, had lynched the brother of a man, who had secretly married a woman from their family.

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“Keeping in view the facts and circumstances of the case and the act done by the convicts, I am of the view that they are not entitled to any leniency,” additional sessions judge SC Rajan said while sentencing the four men. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on each of the convicts — Rajesh (20), Kartar (25), Ram Kishan (33) and Pawan (24).

According to the prosecution, they first visited the house of the victim’s aunt where they had liquor and later attacked him. The victim Dinesh was taken to a hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.

The convicts, however, pleaded innocent in the court and said they were falsely implicated in this case. The court did not accept their pleas and said, “They have not assigned any reason as to why they have been falsely implicated in this case.” The prosecution examined 20 witnesses to prove its case.

The court relied on the testimony of Dinesh’s aunt, who deposed that the four assaulted her nephew as his brother had married a girl from one of the assailants’ families without the “consent and willingness of her parents”.

The court convicted them, saying that the witnesses had made consistent depositions against the convicts.