How far away are we from reality? A news piece caught my attention last week. It appeared in Delhi's edition of Indian Express. It was about honor killing of a couple some five years ago in Kaithal District of Haryana. The guy and the gal had fled from their homes to marry, as their families were against the marriage. The reason was : they were from same 'gotra'. I dont know what is the technical meaning of 'gotra', neither do I care a fuck about it. I think it will be something like a caste. Why I think like this is because years earlier, my mom had told me that I cant marry a gal with 'Sehgal' surname, as she is like a sister to me. I didnt find it odd then, but I find it strange today.
Okay, lets get back to the story. So, the couple got married. But soon after it, they were hunted down by gal's brother and cousins and were butchered by them. Such cases are known as 'honor killings' in India, as the family sacrificed their own daughter to save their 'honor'. The case was doing rounds in court for the last five years. Yesterday, I read the piece : Hayrana High Court gives death to 5 accused, life imprisonment to one and 7 years in jail to another. It was one of the few moments I felt really proud of Indian Legal System, for there is a ray of light even in darkest corner of this country, where sex ratio is dipping and having a gal child is considered as a curse. But when I read further, the public prosecutor had appealed to the judge saying that this was "RAREST OF RARE CASES". Even a dumb ass can imagine that the judge must have been moved by a plea like that. But, isnt it strange that the public prosecutor and the judge - the watchdogs of legal system - think that it is a rare cases. Arent they reading newspapers? Every other day in Delhi, I used to read about honor killings and that too in english newspaper, whichs readers would like to believe that they have urban sensibiltiies, which make it hard for an editor to get such a story to print, still he does it. Think about how many such stories will be appearing in hindi papers. What kind of utopian world we live in?
Anyways, it finally turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as the judge did think that it was a rare case and awarded a severe penalty. But here too, should the severity of punishment have anything to do with the prevalance of that kind of crime? I dont think so, in fact the more prevalant the crime is, the stricter should be the punishment. I hope the following things should happen:
a) Indians learn "correct" english. It can well be the case, that the lawyer knew that its not a rare case, but still 'RAREST OF RARE' is a powerful phrase, so he used it
b) We as a society can take few steps to open our own eyes.
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dat's high court decision, is it? so, the accused can go to the Supreme Court and try if they can get lesser punishement. and just imagine, if the judge there reads newspapers everyday, he may not think the case as 'rarest of rare'! so, cross ur fingers and expect dat judges in this country don't read newspapers!!
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