The Supreme Court has allowed a woman convicted of murdering her fiance to seek a pardon from the Governor, observing that a reformative approach should be adopted for women who commit crimes under compelling social circumstances, especially in cases involving forced marriages.
The bench of Justice MM Sundresh and Justice Aravind Kumar observed that the crime committed by the woman from Karnataka, Shubha, was influenced by societal pressures, particularly the compulsion to marry against her will, recognising the broader societal role in shaping individual actions and emphasising the need for structural support and rehabilitation.
“The idea therefore, is to reform and rehabilitate the deviant person to bring him back into the fold of society. This reformative part, thus, assumes a greater significance. It is more so, when the offender is not entirely responsible for the causes which led to the crime,” the court noted.
The Supreme Court’s observation comes amid a spate of recent cases involving women killing their fiancs or newlywed husbands.
In its judgment, the top court emphasised that, “an unwarranted marriage thrust upon her is the worst form of alienation that she can experience both mentally and physically”.
Shubha, along with her accomplices Arun Verma, Venkatesh, and Dinesh, was convicted under Sections 302 and 120B of the IPC for the 2003 murder of her fianc. At the time, she was a 20-year-old college student who had repeatedly expressed to her family that she did not want to get married.
The court noted that 22 years had elapsed since the crime, during which societal understandings of gendered victimisation have evolved.
The Supreme Court’s ruling acknowledged that “Society, through its own systemic failures, inequalities, or neglect, often plays a role in shaping criminal behaviour, and is also responsible for the creation of such behaviour, whether through poverty, lack of education, discrimination, or broken institutions”.
“In that scenario, the offender becomes a victim, requiring adequate measures for treatment by compassionate correction, structural support, and opportunities for genuine transformation. In an attempt to bring the individual back into the social fold, responsibility has to be shared by every other individual, ultimately rebuilding the bonds of community rather than perpetuating cycles of alienation and punishment,” the top court said.
The bench allowed Shubha and her aides to approach the Karnataka Governor to seek pardon, highlighting the “constitutional ethos, goal and culture” of reformation embedded within Article 161 of the Indian Constitution. This provision allows for the commuting of sentences when broader social and personal contexts warrant consideration.
Shubha’s case was particularly noted by the court for demonstrating how “the wrong course of action in order to address her problem” led to a tragic outcome. This highlights the potential for reformative justice to prevent future occurrences by addressing root causes rather than just symptoms.
The Court did not condone Shubha’s actions, saying that the woman was “unable to make a decision for herself, despite being an individual who had attained majority. Having said so, we cannot condone her action as it resulted in the loss of an innocent life of a young man”.
The Supreme Court has also suspended the sentences for eight weeks to allow Shubha and her co-accused to file for pardon.
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