Lucknow: A court in Barabanki has sentenced four men, including the uncle of a 23-year-old woman, to life imprisonment for her murder in what the judge termed an honour killing, nearly 11 years after the crime in Kaimei village under Deva police station.Additional district judge Anjani Kumar Singh on Monday convicted Kunware, Harinam Gautam, Durga and Dinesh under IPC Section 302 (murder) and awarded life imprisonment to each. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 18,000 on each convict.Govt counsel Varun Mishra said the case dates back to the evening of Dec 15, 2015, when the victim, identified as Preeti, was forcibly taken from her marital home and later killed. The prosecution told the court that Preeti, daughter of Harilal Gautam, had married Sandeep, a resident of the same village, about one-and-a-half years earlier against her family’s wishes.After the marriage, the couple moved to Ambala in Punjab, where they lived together and had a child. On Dec 15, 2015, Preeti returned to Kaimei with her husband and child. Later in the evening, Sandeep stepped out of the house to meet someone.Around 8 pm, the prosecution alleged, Preeti’s father Harilal and her uncle Kunware came to the house and asked her to accompany them. When she refused, they and their associates allegedly dragged her away. She did not return.Preeti’s mother-in-law, Anita, approached the police after the woman went missing and lodged a complaint. Police detained Harilal and others the same night for questioning. During the investigation, Harilal allegedly disclosed that he, Kunware and the other accused had killed Preeti, claiming her love marriage had dishonoured the family.Investigators said the accused placed the body in a sack and buried it in a field, from where it was recovered on the basis of the information provided. The prosecution examined seven witnesses during the trial. Proceedings stretched over several years, during which Harilal died. The court, after evaluating evidence and testimony, held the murder was retaliation for Preeti’s choice-based marriage and convicted the four remaining accused.
