An Indian court has sentenced a man to death for murdering his wife by setting her on fire in a brutal attack motivated by her skin colour.
The incident, which occurred in 2017, has reignited national conversations around colourism—a deeply rooted issue in Indian society.
‘A crime against humanity’
The District Court in Udaipur, Rajasthan, handed down the sentence over the weekend. Judge Rahul Choudhary described the murder as falling under the “rarest of the rare” category, calling it “a crime against humanity.”
The victim, Lakshmi, had told police, doctors, and a magistrate before her death that her husband, Kishandas, routinely mocked her for being dark-skinned. In her dying statement, she revealed that he often called her kali (a derogatory term for someone with dark skin) and body-shamed her since their wedding in 2016.
The night of the attack
On the night of 24 June 2017, Kishandas brought home a plastic bottle containing a brown liquid, claiming it was a skin-lightening medicine. According to court documents and Lakshmi’s statement, he applied the liquid to her body. When she complained it smelled like acid, he lit an incense stick and set her on fire.
As her body burned, he poured more of the liquid on her and fled the scene. Kishandas’s parents and sister rushed Lakshmi to hospital, where she later died from her injuries.
Legal response and reactions
In his verdict, Judge Choudhary condemned the crime in strong terms:
“It will not be an exaggeration to say this heart-rending, brutal crime was not just against Lakshmi, but a crime against humanity… It shocks the conscience of society and cannot be tolerated in a civilised world.”
Public prosecutor Dinesh Paliwal hailed the sentence as “historic” and expressed hope that it would serve as a warning to others.
“A young woman in her early 20s was brutally murdered. She was someone’s sister, someone’s daughter. If we don’t protect our daughters, who will?” he told the BBC.
The sentence must still be confirmed by the High Court. Kishandas has 30 days to file an appeal.
Defence claims innocence
Kishandas’s lawyer, Surendra Kumar Menariya, told the BBC that his client was innocent and had been wrongly accused. He insisted that Lakshmi’s death was accidental and that no direct evidence linked Kishandas to the crime.
A spotlight on colourism in India
Lakshmi’s death and the court’s ruling have once again drawn attention to India’s widespread obsession with fair skin. Colourism is deeply entrenched in cultural attitudes, from beauty standards to marriage preferences.
Dark-skinned women are often subjected to insults, rejection, and discrimination. The skin-lightening industry thrives on these insecurities, generating billions of dollars annually. In matrimonial ads, descriptors like “fair” or “very fair” are commonly used to describe ideal brides.
The BBC has previously reported cases where women took their own lives after being mocked or abused by their husbands over their complexion.
Despite growing awareness and campaigns challenging the idea that “fair is better,” advocates say change is slow and societal biases remain firmly in place.
Until those attitudes shift, they warn, many more lives—like Lakshmi’s—will continue to be destroyed by colour-based prejudice.
