HANG PEOPLE WHO BURN BRIDES: INDIAN SUPREME COURT

By P.Vijian

NEW DELHI, June 2 (Bernama) -- Miffed over the rising number of burning
brides due to dowry demands, the Supreme Court of India said those involved in
such "barbaric" act should be hanged.

The court described such acts as "barbaric" and uncivilised" when hearing a
bail plea filed by a convict in a bride-burning case in Haryana in northern
India.

"You have burnt to death a woman by pouring kerosene. How can you do such a
barbaric act? It is an uncivilised act. You should be hanged for the crime,"
Justice Markandeya Katju told the applicant's counsel, Jasbir Singh, reported
The Hindu.

In the particular case brought to the court's attention, Prem Kumar Gulati,
the elder brother-in-law of the deceased bride, Rajani, was sentenced to life
imprisonment after he was found guilty of killing her.

In 2006, a Sessions Court in Haryana convicted three family members --
Gulati and his wife Vimla and Rajani's husband Mahender Kumar Gulati -- of the
murder.


Rajani in her dying declaration had implicated the three for constantly
harassing her and settin her ablaze by pouring kerosene on her in their house in
Bhiwani district on December 2003, said The Hindu.

The court gave no mercy when the convict's counsel said it was a suicide and
Katju retorted: "They all say that. Every time they burn a bride, they
say it was a suicide. On the one hand, they regard women as devi (goddesses), on
they other hand they burn them alive.

"This is against the norm of civilised society. It's barbaric. We will not
grant you any relief. You can try your luck before any other Bench."

When the case was heard in Delhi, Gurgaon, a growing up-town suburb
outside the city, police had registered a case against a telecommunication
manager and his family members for the death of his 27-year-old wife. Police
suspect it could be another case of dowry-related murder.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau, about 8,000 dowry deaths
were registered in 2007.

-- BERNAMA