High court commutes death sentence of five convicted of ‘honour killing’

However, while hearing the case, HC took into account that the families lived in the same area in Ballimaran and there was no evidence of any feud prior to the murder in 2008. “In the absence of any concrete evidence, it was not possible to conclude that the animosity between the families developed to such an extent that members of one family wanted to eliminate the members of the other or even the husband,” HC argued while reducing the sentence though maintaining the conviction.

According to the prosecution, enmity developed between the families after the couple married against the wishes of the woman’s family. It said the couple had been living separately to avoid the wrath of their family. It also said though they married in 2007, the couple had returned to Ballimaran to live with the man’s family 10 days before the murder.

However, HC was not convinced on the basis of the evidence to conclude it was a case of honour killing which merited capital punishment.

A link to the article can be found here.