Man sentenced to death in India for killing daughter over beef ban

A man in India who murdered his seven-year-old daughter in 2014 was sentenced to death by a local court on Thursday.

Ikram Khan was charged for killing his daughter in an attempt to frame the village sarpanch and his associates, who had penalised him for slaughtering and selling beef in the village despite a ban, according to The Times of India.



Mewat district and sessions judge, M M Dhonchak, observed that a cold-hearted act had been done by the convict with the aim of settling scores with his enemies. "Convict killed an innocent child who was to seek protection from her father. ...The murder was committed with a pre meditated mind and in an inhuman and barbaric manner," the judge maintained.

The incident happened in February 2014, when Ikram and his men engaged in a conflict with  village sarpanch Khursheed Ahmed and his men over the sale of beef in Manota village.



Nearly 15 men from both the sides were injured in the clash along with seven-year-old Saiba who later succumbed to injuries caused by sharp-edged weapons.

Ikram accused Khursheed, Nasru, Hakkrudin and others of attacking him with sharp-edged weapons and murdering his daughter, according to his statement to the police. However, reports suggest that during the clash Khan murdered his daughter by slitting her throat and tried putting the blame on Khursheed and others.



While police initially charged Khursheed for murder and Khan for cow slaughter, in the course of the investigation, Khan confessed it was he who murdered Saiba with a sharp weapon that was earlier recovered from the scene of the conflict.

This article originally appeared on The Times of India.