Indian gets life term for killing of son's black wife in US

Washington, June 30 (PTI) - An Indian-origin businessman
in the U.S. has been sentenced to life in prison without
parole for hiring hitmen to murder his son's black wife as he
was enraged at the inter-racial marriage.

Prosecution had sought death penalty for Chiman Rai, 69,
for paying two men USD 10,000 to kill Sparkle Michelle Rai, an
African American, in April 2000 weeks after her marriage to
his son Rajeev Rai alias Ricky, with whom she had a daughter.

The 22-year-old was found strangled and stabbed more
than a dozen times at the couple's apartment.

Jurors deliberated for less than two hours before
delivering the verdict in an Atlanta area courtroom in Georgia
this week.

The case had gone cold but grabbed headlines as an
"honour killing" after police arrested Chiman Rai and four
others following a tip off two years ago.

The jury had found Rai guilty on seven charges,
including felony murder and burglary, convinced that he
believed that the marriage would embarrass his family.

Rai immigrated with his family from India in 1970 and
taught Maths at Alcorn State University in Mississippi for a
decade before opening a supermarket and a hotel in Kentucky
Mississippi where Sparkle was an employee.

Prosecutors claimed that it was a hate crime.

"This particular murder, outrageous, wantonly vile,"
prosecutor Sheila Ross was quoted as saying by the The Atlanta
Journal-Constitution. "The brutal murder of this young mother
not only justifies but demands the death penalty," she told
the jury.

Defence lawyer Don Samuel said while there was evidence
that Rai believed his son's marriage would cast a stigma on
his family in Indian society, he wasn't a racist and had
strong support in the African-American community. PTI RTIndian
gets life term for killing of son's black wife in US

Washington, June 29 (PTI) An Indian-origin businessman
in the U.S. has been sentenced to life in prison without
parole for hiring hitmen to murder his son's black wife as he
was enraged at the inter-racial marriage.

Prosecution had sought death penalty for Chiman Rai, 69,
for paying two men USD 10,000 to kill Sparkle Michelle Rai, an
African American, in April 2000 weeks after her marriage to
his son Rajeev Rai alias Ricky, with whom she had a daughter.

The 22-year-old was found strangled and stabbed more
than a dozen times at the couple's apartment.

Jurors deliberated for less than two hours before
delivering the verdict in an Atlanta area courtroom in Georgia
this week.

The case had gone cold but grabbed headlines as an
"honour killing" after police arrested Chiman Rai and four
others following a tip off two years ago.

The jury had found Rai guilty on seven charges,
including felony murder and burglary, convinced that he
believed that the marriage would embarrass his family.

Rai immigrated with his family from India in 1970 and
taught Maths at Alcorn State University in Mississippi for a
decade before opening a supermarket and a hotel in Kentucky
Mississippi where Sparkle was an employee.

Prosecutors claimed that it was a hate crime.

"This particular murder, outrageous, wantonly vile,"
prosecutor Sheila Ross was quoted as saying by the The Atlanta
Journal-Constitution. "The brutal murder of this young mother
not only justifies but demands the death penalty," she told
the jury.

Defence lawyer Don Samuel said while there was evidence
that Rai believed his son's marriage would cast a stigma on
his family in Indian society, he wasn't a racist and had
strong support in the African-American community. PTI