SaralnamaThis 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,… (Updated 3 Sep 2025, 11:05 IST; source: link)
Key Points
- 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"