In a shocking case of wiping the entire family of their neighbour in the name of “saving their honour” the Supreme Court has awarded rigorous life sentence to three accused from Uttar Pradesh, including the father of a girl who was at the centre of the whole controversy even as the top court said they actually deserved death penalty.
“There is no doubt that the killing of six persons and wiping almost the whole family on flimsy ground of honour, the case would fall within the rarest of rare category evolved by the Supreme Court and, therefore, the trial court was perfectly justified in imposing capital punishment on the accused,” a bench of Justices H.S. Bedi and J.M. Panchal said.
However, the judges refrained from awarding the capital punishment for reasons that the Allhabad high court in fact had acquitted them and the matter came before the top court in appeal after 20 years of the gruesome crime.
The mass murder took place in Village Lakhanpur of Farrukhabad district on intervening night of August 10/11, 1991 and the trial judge had awarded death sentence to Krishna, Ram Sewak and Kishori for the killings as they suspected the hand of their neighbour Guljari’s wife in the “eloping” of Krishna’s daughter Sontara with a village youth, Amar Singh.
According to the prosecution, the accused had made pronouncement from the village “chabutra (platform)” of dire consequences to the family of Guljair if his wife Ramwati failed to bring back their daughter.
On the day of the crime, “Ram Sewak announced while sitting on chabutra that at all costs, Sontara should come back. Otherwise, no one would be kept alive even for the name sake,” the apex court in its verdict recorded.
The top court further said that similar warning were issued earlier by the convicts to Guljari and his wife warning them to ensure return of the girl as it was a matter of their “family honour” or else, they would face serious consequences.
After the repeated “failed” attempt by the accused to locate the girl and Amar Singh, they vent their ire on GulJari’s family and entered his house armed with country made pistols and shot him, Ramwati their three sons Rakesh, Umesh and Dharmendra and Guljari’s brother Baburam.
In view of the HC acquitting the accused, the top court said “the death sentence after their acquittal would not be justified.” and hence imposed rigorous life imprisonment on them.