Bombay High Court upholds the death penalty awarded to Eknath Kumbharkar, 44, from Nashik. The accused is convicted of strangling his daughter to death for marrying outside their caste.

According to the convict, his daughter brought disrespect to his community by marrying a man outside their caste. According to the police, Kumbharkar family was from Gavli caste while Deepak belonged to the Matang caste.

The Bench that delivered the verdict consisted of Justices B P Dharmadhikari and Swapna Joshi. The man is convicted of killing his eighteen-year-old daughter in 2013. Pramila, the victim was nine months pregnant.    

“The Accused is a menace to the society”

The Bench of judges termed the murder as an honour killing and stated that the accused carried out the crime in a planned and a gruesome manner. It was a cold-blooded murder and falls under the category of those rare cases where a death penalty should be rewarded. 

“The accused with pre-meditation, in a planned manner, committed a diabolic and gruesome murder of his own daughter Pramila, who was happily residing with her husband and in-laws. Pramila must be having dreams about her would-be child. The accused killed not only his daughter but also his grandchild who was in the womb of Pramila,” a division bench of Justice B P Dharmadhikari and Justice Swapna Joshi said while terming the murder to be an honour killing.

The High Court confirmed the Nashik’s trial court’s order and stated that the accused should have taken care of his pregnant daughter, who was accompanying him but he rather murdered her with a vengeful attitude.

“Thus, the transgression of the harmful act of murder of nine months pregnant daughter can be only prevented by awarding a severe punishment. The accused is nothing but a menace to society. He has broken the traditional value of father and daughter relationship,” the bench said.

Kumbharkar killed Pramila in 2013

The prosecution stated that Pramila went against his father wish to marry Deepak Kamble in 2013. Resultantly, the accused Kumbharkar was furious at her daughter. 

On June 28, 2013, at about 5:30 AM in the morning, Kumbharkar requested his neighbour, who was a rickshaw driver and took him to Kailash Nagar, Nandurnaka.

Kumbharkar told the driver that his mother was seriously ill and her last wish was to see Pramila. Kumbharkar picked Pramila from her in-law’s house and after reaching the hospital’s gate Kumbharkar asked the driver to call the watchman.

The Rickshaw driver came back only to find Pramila lying on the lap of Kumbharkar in the auto-rickshaw. Her neck was choked by the rope and foam was coming out of her mouth.

Pramila was declared dead at the hospital, her nine-month foetus was also declared dead. 

The driver, Pramila’s mother and her mother-in-law were the prime witness in the case.

Kumbharkar’s wife told the trial court that he was upset with their daughter’s move of marrying outside their caste, he thought it brought disrespect to Kumbharkar. The Session court in Nashik held Kumbharkar guilty of murder sentencing him to death.

The High Court asserted that the accused is “unfit to be reverted back to civilised society and will be dangerous to any other members of the society, including his wife”   

What did the lawyers say?

The Advocate for defence for Kumbharkar, Rohan Sonawane argued that it was not one among the rarest of a rare case and it can be said that the incident might have taken place in the heat of passion. 

Assistant Public prosecutor P P Shinde asserted that the accused had a strong motive of killing his daughter as she married into an intercaste family which was against his wish.

“The accused was troubled with his daughter’s marriage,” Shinde told the Court

Also Read: Honour Killing: Parents Kill Daughter & Burn Her Body For Marrying Man From Another Caste