3 men sentenced to life in ‘honour killing’ case of 2010

NEW DELHI: A city court awarded rigorous imprisonment for life on Tuesday to three men convicted for the murder of a couple and another woman in an apparent honour killing in June 2010. While observing that the trio of Ankit Choudhary, Mandeep Nagar and Nakul Khari, convicted in September, were young and had clean antecedents, the court said there was a strong possibility of their rehabilitation, reformation and re-adaptation in society.Choudhary, 21 years old at the time of the incident, killed his 24-year-old sister Monika and brother-in-law Kuldeep Singh, 26, in Ashok Vihar because he was against their love marriage, both being members of different communities. Choudhary was also involved in the murder of another woman, Shobha, who was his co-accused Nagar’s sister and had eloped with her lover.For Singh’s family, the sentencing after over a decade felt only like a consolation prize, although they appreciated the efforts of Delhi Police in taking the case to its logical conclusion. Singh’s elder brother, Amit, who was pursuing the case all this time, told TOI that he was happy that the judgment was finally out but that a harsher sentence would have sent a stronger message to society.“Last year, Ankit was released from jail on parole but he escaped from custody and only we know how we survived those months in fear and shutting ourselves in our houses for fear of reprisals. If the murderers leave jail on parole, then we will continue to live in fear,” said Amit.While pronouncing the sentence, additional sessions judge Babru Bhan of the Rohini Courts observed that the three men had no history of drug abuse or criminal tendencies, so there was no reason to believe that the convicts could be a future threat or menace to society. The court also noted that Choudhary, Nagar and Khari, were just 21, 22 and 19 years old, respectively, at the time of the murder.“As per law prevalent in our country, the death penalty can be imposed in extreme cases, where there is no possibility of any reformation of the accused,” the judge’s order noted. “For imposition of the capital punishment, it has to be established by the prosecution that the case qualifies as a ‘rarest of rare’ case.” The court also levied fines on all the three convicts.Sanjay Jindal, additional public prosecutor, said that they would go through the judge’s order and then decide the future course of action. The prosecution had argued that the murders were committed without moral justification and under the impression that they were protecting the family and community.For Singh’s relatives, while justice has been served, the lengthy litigation took the edge out of any sense of triumph. They highlighted how the judgment in the recent Soumya Vishwanathan case had similarly come after 15 years. “We thank the almighty and Delhi Police for helping us keep our faith. Ever since the murder, it’s the cops who have been protecting our family. We were assigned personal security officers, who have now become a part of our family since they are with us all the time,” said Amit.He added, “I just appeal to the government to ensure justice is delivered within a reasonable time because each hearing is a reminder to the survivors of the wounds suffered. The long delays add to the frustration of family members. Those who were killed were young too.” The family said it is now for the state to decide on an appeal against the life imprisonment.After the sentence was pronounced, a team of police officials patrolled the Wazirpur village where the family of the convicts and the victims reside. The two families have never interacted since the 2010 incident.