Indian court sentences 10 to hang for honour killing

BBC News, 8 June 2011

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A court in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh has sentenced 10 people to death for killing a young couple who married against their parents' wishes.

Vijaya, 18, and her husband, Udai Pal Singh, were killed by her family after they found out about the marriage, the court in Etah district heard.

The groom's brother was also killed.

India's Supreme Court recently said so-called honour killers should face the death penalty. It is carried out only in the rarest of cases in India.

The BBC's Ram Dutt Tripathi in Lucknow says hundreds of young Indians are killed every year for falling in love.

Parents in India still prefer arranged marriages within their own caste and religion, our correspondent says.