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Bhartesh Singh Thakur
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 31
The judgment pronounced in the Nikita Tomar case concludes that convict Tausif’s infatuation for the victim led to the killing. It makes no mention of “love jihad”.
However, Home Minister Anil Vij as well as president of the Haryana State Commission for Women Preeti Bhardwaj had cited “love jihad” as the reason for the 20-year-old Faridabad student’s murder to press for a law against “conversion” in the state.
What the court said
This is a case where interest of society and justice shall be served by imposing life imprisonment than putting the accused to death. The case does not fall in “rarest of rare” category.
“It is clearly established that Tausif had a liking for victim Nikita Tomar… and tried to abduct Nikita Tomar, showing a pistol. When she valiantly resisted his attempts, he shot her,” Additional Sessions Judge, Faridabad, Sartaj Baswana, concluded in the judgment which was made public today.
After Tausif and his friend Rihan were sentenced to life imprisonment on March 26, Vij had stated that the state would approach the high court to seek death sentence for the duo. Bhardwaj too had said had there been a law on conversion, the punishment would have been more severe.
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