Death penalty upheld for man who killed 5 daughters

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has upheld the decision of a lower court granting death penalty to a man who murdered his five daughters in Sehore district of the State last year.

The order was issued by a division bench of the High Court, comprising Justices Sushma Shrivastava and R.C. Mishra, on Monday.

Maganlal Barela was found guilty of hacking his daughters Arta (4), Savita (5), Leela (5), Jamuna (1) and Phool Kanwar (1) to death on June 2010 with an axe following a dispute over property with his two wives.

The police registered a case against Barela under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code.

According to local newspaper reports, Barela, in his statement, had claimed that "someone else came and murdered his daughters but he couldn't remember who it was".