Sheila Dikshit condemns 'honour killings' in capital

Chief minister Sheila Dikshit today termed as "very disturbing scenario" the incidents of 'honour killing' in the national capital and favoured stringent punishment to perpetrators of such heinous crime.

Condemning the incidents, Dikshit said there was a need for raising awareness against the menace.

"I condemn the incidents. This is a very depressing scenario and one feel extremely pained. It is so upsetting... we have never heard of it," she said.

In a suspected honour killing case, a couple and one of their relatives were killed by family members in the capital for marrying in another caste.

Family members allegedly murdered Monica along with her husband Kuldeep on Sunday, while body of 22-year-old Shobha, a cousin of Monica who too had eloped with a man belonging to a different caste, was found on Monday.

Favouring stringent punishment to the guilty, Dikshit said the incidents are taking place because of internal familily matters and awareness and stringent punishment to the guilty could be the solution to ensure that such incidents do not happen.

In another case of honour killing, a 19-year-old girl and her boyfriend were brutally tortured and electrocuted to death in Swaroop Nagar area of the city last week for wanting to marry against the wishes of her family.