In brief
In a landmark ruling, a man was sentenced to death for murdering his wife, Lakshmi, by setting her ablaze after continually taunting her about her dark complexion. The court categorized the crime as one of the 'rarest of the rare'. The case, involving deep-seated issues of colorism in India, underscores the societal prejudices against darker skin, a pervasive problem in the country.
This article contains details some people may find distressing. A court in India has given the death penalty to a man for burning alive his wife over her skin colour. In her statements before her death, Lakshmi had said that her husband Kishandas routinely taunted her for being dark skinned. District Judge Rahul Choudhary in the northern city of Udaipur explained the death penalty saying the murder fell in the category of rarest of the rare and it was a crime against humanity. Kishandas's lawyer told the BBC that his client was innocent and that they would appeal against the order. Lakshmi's murder eight years back and the judgement, delivered at the weekend, have made headlines in a country where public obsession with colourism is well documented. The attack on Lakshmi took place on the night of 24 June 2017, as she described in statements to the police and doctors. Her husband had often called her kali or dark skinned since their marriage in 2016. On the night she died, Kishandas reportedly applied a suspicious liquid to her body and set her on fire. Public prosecutor Dinesh Paliwal described the order as historic, emphasizing that this brutal crime against a young woman represents a severe societal issue regarding the treatment of women with darker skin tones. The case has put a spotlight on India's unhealthy preference for fair skin, with systemic discrimination against women based on their complexion being prevalent in various aspects of society.
