Hailing the Supreme Court’s decision in the Nitish Katara murder case, the victim’s mother Neelam termed the verdict as her “biggest victory.”
Hailing the Supreme Court’s decision in the Nitish Katara murder case, the victim’s mother Neelam termed the verdict as her “biggest victory.”
“I am happy that the Supreme Court has not taken it as just another murder case. It wasn’t a normal murder but a well planned case of honour killing by rich people who were drunk on power and thus 14-years of life imprisonment was not awarded by the SC.
“That Vikas Yadav won’t get remission before 25 years is my biggest victory. It is also a big thing for the youth of the country as the Supreme Court has taken a stand,” Ms Katara told reporters.
Nitish Katara, a 25-year-old executive, was kidnapped and burnt to death in Ghaziabad near Delhi in 2002. He was dating Bharti Yadav, the daughter of a politician, DP Yadav. Nitish and Bharti were at a wedding when Katara was abducted by Bharti’s brother, Vikas Yadav, and their cousin, Vishal.
The Delhi HC had called it an “honour killing” and said the crime belonged to the “rarest of rare category,” awarding the convicts the lengthy prison term. However, it refused to award them death sentence, saying the possibility of their reformation and rehabilitation is not “unforeseeably foreclosed.”
“If you see the quantum of punishment, we had asked for death penalty and five years have been reduced quantitatively. It is not any shoe or slipper we are talking about here but the body of my son which was destroyed, so even if I demand 10 more years of imprisonment for him, it should not be a big deal... it is justified,” Ms Katara said.
The SC had last year upheld the conviction of the three men, observing that “only criminals are crying for justice” in this country. It had also rejected a petition by Ms Katara that they be given the death penalty. In its ruling on Monday, the Supreme Court awarded 25 years of imprisonment each to Vikas Yadav and Vishal Yadav. The top court has also sentenced their associate, Sukhdev Pehalwan, to 20 years in prison.
