Allahabad: The Allahabad High Court refused bail to a Mainpuri man for his participation in an alleged hate crime, stating that individuals who murder a family member for selecting a life partner against their will, have no place in society.
The court observed: ‘There is no place for citizens in our society who act in derogation of the much cherished constitutional values of individual liberty, and, instead, repose faith in archaic social values of family honour to an extent that they would go to eliminate a family member choosing a life partner for herself.’
On July 2, Justice J J Munir was hearing a bail plea from the applicant, Gulshan, who reportedly killed his sister Jyoti for marrying a man belonging to another caste and shot her husband.
Taking notice of the situation, the court stated that, prima facie, if these claims were proven at the time of trial, such individuals have no place in society. Even though the defense claimed that the applicant was assigned the job of assaulting one of the witnesses and that the couple was slain by another co-accused, the prosecution termed it a hate crime.
The government’s counsel argued, ‘the assault, as a whole, was a brazen act of honour killing and the woman’s family, going by the eyewitness’ account, had eliminated her to redeem their false notions of family honour and shot her husband to punish him.’
‘Prima facie, it is a brazen case of honour killing in which family members, including the deceased’s father, uncle, cousin and brother, have all participated to put an end to a young life on account of a false sense of family pride, which they have prima facie sought to redeem through this crime,’ the court concluded after hearing both sides.
‘He was certainly an active participant in the entire episode, though he may not have wielded the gun or inflicted the fatal injury,’ the court said while refusing the applicant bail.
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