6 get life term for killing Rampur woman who married against their wishes

A local court of Rampur has awarded life imprisonment to six members of a family for killing a 24-year-old woman in July, 2012 for marrying a man against their wishes.

The court on Tuesday convicted deceased Rabia’s father Sharafat Hussain (56) and five brothers Shakir, Zakir, Hatim, Sabir and Saddam on charges of murder and destruction of evidence. All six of them, who are residents of Rampur’s Shahjadnagar area, were out on bail.

Sharafat and his five sons – aged between 20 and 30 years – were associated with farming.

“The court held the six people guilty on Tuesday and the convicts were taken into custody. Additional District Judge Rashmi Rani awarded them life imprisonment,” said government counsel, Rampur, Pramod Sagar. He added that the court had examined nine prosecution witnesses.

According to Sagar, the prosecution proved that the accused had killed Rabia for marrying against their wishes and buried her body near their house. “It was a case of honour killing,” said Sagar.

However, defence counsel Vineet Chaudhary said they would file an appeal against the judgment.

According to prosecution, the case dated back to July 18, 2012 when Zakir had filed a complaint at Rampur’s Bhot police station. He had said that on July 14, an unidentified dumper driver hit his motorcycle from the back while he was returning home from Rudrapur with his sister Rabia. She was injured and was admitted to a local district hospital from where she was shifted to a private hospital in Bareilly. After treatment, Rabia was discharged from the hospital.

A case was lodged into the matter against unidentified vehicle at Bhot police station.

The police was later informed that Rabia died on July 27, 2012 and her family had buried the body. The police added the charge of causing death by negligence in the case, said the prosecution.

Later, with the district magistrate’s permission the body was exhumed and sent body for post-mortem.

During investigation, police came to know that Rabia got married to Islam, a resident of Moradabad district, against her family’s wishes.

“On August 1, 2012, Islam filed a complaint with Rampur Superintendent of Police stating that he married Rabia in court on May 29, 2012. Since their marriage, Rabia’s parents were mounting pressure on her to divorce him. Few days before the death, they had taken Rabia from his Moradabad home,” said the prosecution.

Islam had also attached his marriage certificate with the complaint.

On the basis of the complaint, police added charges of murder and destruction of evidence in the case.

“During further investigation, police found that the accident report said the victim had injuries on her body, including legs. However, post-mortem report showed there were nine injuries on the body, including head, which is believed to be cause of her death,” said Sagar.

“Police became suspicious when Islam told them that few days before her death, Rabia had called him and said her family members were harassing and forcing her to divorce him,” said Sagar.