2. 2002 Nitish Katara Case (Delhi/UP)

On February 16, 2002, a young man Nitish Katara went to a dear friend’s wedding. Little did he know that it was going to be the last night of his life. This was another hideous “honour-killing” case which shook the entire country.

What Really Happened?

On the night of February 16, 2002, Nitish Katara was abducted from a wedding by Vikas Yadav, who is the son of the politician DP Yadav. Vikas, Vishal Yadav and Sukhdev Pehelwan took Katara in a Tata Safari and hammered him to death, before throwing his body near Hapur crossing in a village called Khurja in Bulandshahr.

Why the Murder?

Nitish Katara, IMT Ghaziabad graduate, and son of a bureaucrat was involved in a love-affair with Bharti Yadav, daughter of political strongman DP Yadav. Bharti’s family was against their relationship and had given several threats, but the couple carried on with their relationship, nonetheless.

What’s the Status Now?

On April 23, 2002, Madhya Pradesh police arrested Yadav brothers. Bharti Yadav was continuously summoned in the court as a key witness but responded only after three years of notice and a final warrant. On May 30, 2008, the court pronounced life-time imprisonment for Vikas and Vishal Yadav on the grounds of “honour-killing”. On February 6, 2015, Delhi HC reviewed the case and awarded 30-year imprisonment to the Yadav brothers without remission. In October 2015, mother Neelam Katara’s appeal for the death sentence for Yadav brothers was rejected by the SC. On October 3, 2016, the SC upheld the conviction of Yadav brothers for 25 years. The third accused gangster Sukhdev Pehalwan, arrested in 2005, has got a 20-year jail term.

In the entire case, what was most surprising was Bharti Yadav’s position. The night when Nitish was abducted was the last time anybody saw Bharti in India. After repeated summons from the court for her statement, she finally responded when in danger of being declared a proclaimed offender. And denied any close relationship with Nitish Katara. At the end of 2009, Bharti Yadav tied the knot in Delhi. The wedding was attended by nearly 4,000 people including high profile politicians. But what caught the attention was the presence of her brother Vikas, escorted by two plainclothes armed men. He was out on parole for 10 hours to attend the wedding. Nitish’s mother, Neelam Katara, who fought a lonely battle which seemed beyond her strength, expressed disappointment on one account that “the boy who believed in fighting for justice and standing with the truth at all costs, fell in love with a ‘weak woman’ like Bharti, who betrayed him in his death”.
This case was dramatised on the episodic television show ‘Crime Patrol’ which was telecast on Sony Entertainment Television.