Death for honour killers: Supreme Court

May 10, 2011 |

Correspondent

New Delhi

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The Supreme Court, in another ruling on honour killings, took a tough stance, saying the prosecution should seek the death penalty for those indulging in such “barbaric and feudal” practices in a country governed by the rule of law.

The court said the “rarest of rare case” test it devised for award of the death penalty in heinous murder cases should apply to hon-our kill-ings too — to be a deterrent to “uncivilised be-haviour” by people with a feudal mindset who don’t hesitate to kill even their own children in the name of so-called “honour”.

“In our opinion, honour killings, for whatever reasons, come within the category of ‘rarest of rare cases’. It’s time to stamp out these feudal practi-ces which are a slur on our nation,” a bench of Justices Markandey Katju and Gyan Sudha Misra said, uphold-ing the conviction and life sentence for Bhagwan Das, who killed his daughter for defying marriage.

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