Death sentence to five in Haryana honour killing

KARNAL - Five people were awarded the death penalty by a court in this Haryana town Tuesday for the honour killing of a young couple who had married in 2007 against the wishes of their community.

Six people were convicted for the murder by the additional district and sessions judge here last week, and a seventh, a driver, was held guilty of abduction. While five were awarded the capital punishment, the sixth was sentenced to life term. The driver has been given seven years in jail.

The couple, Manoj, 23, and Babli, 19, had married in 2007 against the wishes of their respective families. Manoj, who ran an electronics repair shop at Kaithal, eloped with Babli, resident of Karoran village in May 2007. They were murdered the next month.

According to the police, the girl’s relatives dragged the couple out of a Karnal-bound bus in June 2007. The newly weds were brutally murdered and their bodies thrown into an irrigation canal.