Indian court sentences man to death for murdering wife, 3 children

34-year-old Umendra Kevat unsuccessfully tried to hang himself after the murders using the same rope with which he strangled his family. 'No signs or remorse', says court.

A court in Chhattisgarh’s Bilaspur Tuesday sentenced a 34-year-old man to death for having murdered his wife and three children this January saying the act was “predetermined, grave, barbaric, (and) horrifying where innocent and helpless children were murdered by a man who was supposed to be their natural guardian”.

According to court records, the incident occurred on the night of January 1 in Hiri village, where the convict Umendra Kevat is said to have strangled his 32-year-old wife Sukrita and then used the same rope to kill his three children — two daughters Khushi (5) and Lisa (3) and son Pawan (18 months). The couple had been married in 2017 and Umendra is stated to “suspect” his wife of cheating. He is also known to have assaulted his wife in the past but the couple’s families’ are believed to have intervened to settle it.

Umendra tried to hang himself using the same rope with which he killed his family but it broke. He eventually surrendered to the police.

The court’s sentence came after it examined 16 witnesses and 54 documents. In its ruling, the court said the accused was “neither mentally ill nor of unsound mind”.

“There are no signs of remorse on his face. Reason for the crime, cruelty, method, relationship of the parties and the trust between them, three children being innocent, helpless and unarmed, motivation of the accused, weakness of the deceased, horror of the crime and execution of the crime. All these facts and circumstances make the case rarest of the rare,” the order, written in Hindi, said.

It further said that in view of the crime, “he (the accused) does not have the right to live in the society and if judicial humility is shown to him, then considering it as judicial paralysis, he will be encouraged to commit such crimes and then it will be difficult to run this society with the help of law”.

“There is no scope for improvement in this matter and he is not fit to rejoin society. In this case, it would be appropriate in the better interest of the society to give (the) death penalty to the accused,” court held.

Source: indianexpress.com, Jayprakash S Naidu, August 14, 2024

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