Kathmandu (
AsiaNews) - A special court in Uttar Pradesh ( northern India ) yesterday
sentenced Rajesh Talwar and Nupur Talwar to life imprisonment. The wealthy
Muslim couple, both dentists, are guilty of the murder of their 14 year old
daughter and Yam Prasad Banjade, a Nepalese domestic worker killed in Noida in
May 2008.
Originally
the Central Bureau of Investigation ( CBI ) had asked for the death penalty,
but the judges have opted instead for life imprisonment . The
couple acted in anger after discovering an alleged affair between their only
child and employee. The Talwar's
lawyers say they will appeal. Yesterday,
hundreds of Nepali women and human rights activists launched a campaign in New
Delhi for 16 days against violence against women and against honor killings ,
very common in Muslim communities .
Interviewed
by AsiaNews Khumkala Banjade , wife
of Hemraj Banjade , said she was satisfied by the sentence : " I had asked
for the death penalty for the murderers of my husband, but I accept the court's
verdict against the Talwars". Since her husbands death the woman has been
living in abject poverty with a sick child and her mother-in-law of 80. "It
was our poverty - she says - that led my innocent husband to his death at the
hands of this couple. I ask for compensation for his murder and I hope the
Indian court will be able to give justice to me and to my family. "
In
these five years, the case of the pair of Noida has been followed by millions
of people and has raised many criticisms against the local police accused on
several occasions of serious shortcomings. A
few hours after the crime, dozens of people, including journalists and television
crews and strangers arrived at the house without any police control,
compromising the scene. The
trial also raised a number of cultural debates among Muslims, Hindus and civil
society. Some
experts say that the case showed a "clash of cultures " in India,
pitting police and conservative sectors of society against the excesses of the
upper middle class . Rajesh
Talwar and Nupur Talwar were both observant Muslims and according to Islamic
community had the right to punish the serious affront committed by the domestic
worker and daughter, both adulterers . In
order to justify the decision, Judge Shyam Lal also used the passages from the
Koran that punish murder.