Indian court sentences man to death for burning wife alive over skin colour

A court in the northern Indian state of Rajasthan has sentenced a man to death for burning alive his wife, whom he reportedly regularly taunted over her skin colour.

In her dying statement, the wife identified by local media as Lakshmi said her husband Kishanlal (who was also referred to in court documents as Kishandas) “routinely taunted her for being dark skinned” and would rebuke her over her “dark complexion”.

On the night of 24 June 2017, he handed her a bottle with a liquid, claiming it was a medicine to make her skin fairer. When she complained that it smelled like acid, he set her ablaze, the court documents said.

Judge Rahul Choudhary described the act as falling under the “rarest of the rare” category, calling it “a crime against humanity”.

According to NDTV, the court said that such cases were happening a lot these days, and to keep the fear of the court alive in society, the man has been given the death penalty.

The order further noted Kishanlal “broke her trust” and displayed “excessive cruelty”.

Public prosecutor Dinesh Paliwal, who presented 14 witnesses and 36 documents, hailed the ruling as “historic”.

He told the BBC: “A young woman in her early 20s was murdered brutally. She was someone’s sister, someone’s daughter, there were people who loved her. If we don’t save our daughters, then who would?”

He added that the case had been forwarded to the high court for confirmation of the death sentence but said that the convict had 30 days to appeal.

Kishanlal’s lawyer, Surendra Kumar Menariya, however, insisted that Lakshmi’s death was accidental and vowed to appeal.

The court observed that Kishanlal’s actions were “reflecting a heinous mindset rooted in prejudices about skin tone”, according to The Hindustan Times.

In its verdict, the court said: “The extremely heart-wrenching and brutal act was not only a crime against his wife, the deceased Laxmi, but it causes such a shock to the consciousness of entire humanity that it cannot even be imagined in a healthy and civilised society.”