New Delhi: A youth has been sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering a woman he was in love with by a Delhi court, which observed that he chose his obsession over her happiness and tainted the "idea of love".
The court said the manner in which the offence was committed and the weapon used, it can be inferred that the convict Rohit had knowledge that it would cause her death.
"Every journey conceals another journey within its lines; the path not taken and the forgotten angle. Every individual when confronted with various situations of life, has two choices: one good or right and the other bad or wrong. He has to choose one journey. Rohit who claims himself to be in love with his victim Rajwinder Kaur, after coming to know about her engagement with someone else, had a choice.
"The same being to let her go and live happily in her life. He however, did not tread on this path and had chosen to commit the heinous offence, which he committed," Additional Sessions Judge Kanwaljeet Arora said.
The court said had Rohit chosen the woman's happiness over his obsession, which cannot be termed love, Kaur would have been alive and happy and he would not have been facing this situation.
"His journey as chosen by him of being the 'victimizer' would now carry within it the 'journey of Rajwinder' who had been the victim of his obsession.
"By this act, Rohit had tainted not just the 'idea of love' as a sacrificing emotion, but also 'love' as life giving and not life taking," it said.
According to the prosecution, Kaur's mother told the police that she had fixed her 21-year-old daughter's marriage and Rohit, who was residing in the neighbourhood, used to say that he liked Kaur and will not let her marry anyone else.
On the evening of August 20, 2011, when Kaur and her mother had gone on the roof of their Kingsway camp house here, Rohit came there and threatened Kaur that he will not spare her, police said.
He took out a knife and stabbed her, saying that he will not let her live. On hearing the screams, when the victim's sister-in-law Nisha came there, Rohit injured her with the knife, it said.
Police said Rohit fled the spot and both Kaur and Nisha were taken to a hospital where Kaur died. During the trial, the youth claimed that he was innocent and was falsely implicated in the case by the woman's family.
The court, in its judgment, said it was apparent from the youth's conduct that he had made up his mind to eliminate Kaur, thinking her to be his possession and not an individual capable of having her own feelings.
"To give effect to his intention, he purchased the weapon of offence, knife, with which he gave forceful blows to Kaur resulting in her death," the judge said.
While deciding the sentence, the court said the case does not fall under the category of "rarest of rare" and awarded imprisonment for life to Rohit and also imposed a fine of Rs 1.15 lakh on him.
He was also held guilty for causing hurt by dangerous weapon, i.e, knife to Kaur's sister-in-law who had come for her rescue.
