Parents, sister among 5 awarded life term for murdering minor girl

17yearold victim Sweety, who had run away with her boyfriend belonging to a different caste, was brutally murdered by her family members on the night of July 1, 2016

ROHTAK : A Sonepat court on Thursday awarded life term jail to parents, elder sister and two uncles of a 17-year-old girl who was brutally murdered by her family “for honour”.

Sweety, a BA first-year student, was beaten to death with lathis on the night of July 1, 2016, and her body was thrown into the burning store of cow dung in the backyard of the family’s house at Matand village.

The investigation found that Sweety was in love with a boy belonging to a different caste, and had run away with him around 15 days ago against her family’s wishes. The family had somehow convinced her to come back home, promising they would consider accepting her relationship, but then kept her in captivity. On July 1, Sweety tried to run away from the house again with her lover, but was caught by her father Balraj who started beating her.

He was joined by his wife Sudesh, elder daughter Meena (20) and two brothers Suresh and Raju who thrashed the minor girl with lathis and murdered her on the spot. The family members then set their cow dung store in backyard on fire and threw Sweety’s body inside to discreetly dispose it off.

Based on the evidence, the court of additional sessions judge Sunita Grover convicted all five accused under Sections 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code, awarding them life term and imposing a fine of Rs 20,000 fine each. They were also awarded seven-year jail and Rs 10,000 fine each under Section 201 (destroying evidence) and three-year jail and Rs 5,000 fine each Section 148 (using deadly weapon for death). All the punishments will run consecutively, the court ruled.

GRANDFATHER GOT HER JUSTICE

Sweety’s grandfather Dhajja Ram had called up the police to inform about the gruesome killing committed by his son.

A police team had reached the house with a team of fire brigade to douse the flames.

The burnt remains of Sweety’s body were collected by the FSL team to ascertain her identity and build a case against the family.

The police had initially booked Balraj on charges of murder and destroying evidence, but investigation found involvement of his two brothers, wife and elder daughter as well.

VICTIM, A BA FIRSTYEAR STUDENT, WAS BEATEN TO DEATH WITH LATHIS, BURNT IN BACKYARD