A court in India recently sentenced a man to death for setting his wife, Lakshmi, ablaze alive due to her dark skin colour. This harsh punishment reflects the gravity of the crime and its impact on society.
As reported by BBC on Wednesday, the attack on Lakshmi took place on the night of 24 June 2017, the murder dates eight years back, and the judgment, delivered at the weekend, has 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, according to the court order seen by the BBC.
Before her death, Lakshmi revealed that her husband, Kishandas, frequently mocked her for being dark-skinned, calling her “kali” and body-shaming her since their marriage in 2016.
On the night of her attack, Kishandas brought a plastic bottle containing a brown liquid, purportedly a skin-lightening medicine.
According to Lakshmi’s statements, he applied the liquid on her body, and when she complained about a strong acid-like smell, he set her on fire with an incense stick.
Adding to the cruelty, Kishandas poured the remaining liquid on her while she was burning and then fled. Her family rushed her to the hospital, but she later died from her injuries.
The judge, Rahul Choudhary, condemned the act as not only a murder but “a crime against humanity,” stressing that Kishandas “broke her trust” and showed “excessive cruelty in throwing the remaining liquid on her” while she burned.
He described the case as fitting the “rarest of the rare” category, saying, “It will not be an exaggeration to say that this heart-rending brutal crime was not just against Lakshmi, but it’s a crime against humanity.”
He added, “It’s a crime that shocks the conscience of humanity, which cannot even be imagined in a healthy and civilised society.”
The public prosecutor called the verdict “historic,” hoping it would serve as “a lesson for others in society.”
He said, “A young woman in her early 20s was brutally murdered. She was someone’s sister, someone’s daughter; there were people who loved her. If we don’t save our daughters, then who would?”
This tragic story highlights the deep-rooted issue of colourism, where darker-skinned women face widespread discrimination and abuse.
Despite ongoing campaigns to challenge these prejudices, the preference for fair skin remains strongly embedded in many areas of life, continuing to cause immense harm. Until societal attitudes change, such heartbreaking incidents are likely to persist.
