INDIA: DEATH PENALTY FOR KILLER OF PREGNANT WIFE

In India, District and Sessions Judge Kewal Krishan Garg awarded capital punishment to Satish Kumar, a resident of Kotli Raulan village of Gurdaspur District, for having burnt his eight-month pregnant wife to death following an argument in November 2009.
He observed: “On November 13, 2009, the day of incident, the accused returned from work at noon and was served with meal by his wife. Instead of feeling obliged to her for providing him food, he did the most heinous act by pouring kerosene oil on her and setting her ablaze, which resulted not only in her death but also of the foetus she was carrying. There is no mitigating circumstance in favour of the accused. Thus, the act of the barbarity committed by the accused makes it a rarest of the rare case where only capital punishment is to be given”.
Criticising people and groups advocating abolition of death penalty, he said: “It may be added some groups have been advocating abolition of the capital punishment. It seems that the persons leading these groups are living in ivory towers and have never been touched by such crimes committed on the ordinary citizens. The victim is not there to tell the agony of pain he or she suffers. In the present case, there is no other alternative but to award the above proposed punishment”.