Nitish Katara murder case

Who was Nitish Katara murder case?

Nitish Katara was a 24-year-old Indian business executive in Delhi, who was murdered in the early hours of 17 February 2002, by Vikas Yadav the son of influential criminal-politician D. P. Yadav. Nitish had recently graduated from the Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad, where, he had fallen in love with his classmate, Bharti Yadav, sister of Vikas. The trial court held that Nitish's murder was an honour killing because the family did not approve their relationship. Vikas and Vishal Yadav were later found guilty by the trial Court and awarded life sentence on 30 May 2008.

The Yadav family never approved of the relationship between the two, and Katara received threats several times. However, he was an idealist, and believed in "standing up to injustice". On the night of 17 February 2002, the couple attended a common friend's wedding, where Yadavs's brother, Vikas, and a cousin were present as well. From there, Katara was taken for a drive by Yadav's brother Vikas Yadav and Vishal Yadav, and never returned. Three days later, Katar's body was found beside the highway; he had been battered to death with a hammer, diesel poured on him, and set aflame. Dr T D Dogra collected the blood samples of parents for DNA profiling to establish the identity of deceased Nithish Katara at AIIMS New Delhi.