The Delhi Police Commissioner has been directed by a city court to assign its specialised wing the investigation of a possible 'honour killing' angle in the death of a minor girl who had married a youth from another religion without the consent of her parents.
Additional Sessions Judge Kamini lau gave the directions for further probe in the case while acquitting the girl's husband of charges of rape and murder. The court, however, held him guilty of kidnapping his wife, who was 16-and-a-half-years-old. It also asked police to submit its report before a chief metropolitan magistrate within three months.
"Further investigations will be required to be conducted on the issue of unnatural death of the girl particularly on the aspect of honour killing of the deceased and on the role of her parental family in the same. However, since the local police appears to have already made up their mind and given a clean chit to the family of the deceased despite voluminous material pointing a finger towards them, it would be desirable that the Commissioner of Delhi Police personally intervenes in this regard and, in order to ensure that justice is done to the young girl, get further investigations conducted through its specialised wings i.e. Homicidal Wing (Crime Branch) or any other wing sensitised for handling such investigations," the court said.
According to the police, the Badli resident had 'kidnapped' the girl, with whom he was in love, in September 2010 and the two married. In March 2011, it was alleged that the youth poisoned the girl before dropping her off at her parents' home where her condition deteriorated. The family eventually shifted the girl to a hospital where she died.
During the trial, the youth told the court the girl was a consenting party and had voluntarily eloped with him after which they married and started residing happily at his house.
He had also said that the girl's parents were against their inter-religion marriage and it is her parents who had killed his wife only to take revenge and to save their honour in the society.
The court acquitted him of rape and murder charges saying it has been established that the girl had voluntarily gone with him and married him and even her parents had admitted that she had informed them about her marriage with the youth. "Sadly, nobody appears to be concerned with her tragic death. I refuse to remain a mute spectator ... By shutting my eyes to these horrendous social ills and honour crimes which are unfortunately increasing by the day," the judge said. The court also pulled up the police for not investigating the role of the girl's parents in the case.