MEERUT, July 2 -- Nearly six years after a home guard was stabbed while trying to rescue a woman from an assault, a Muzaffarnagar court on Thursday sentenced the accused to death, observing that the killing of a law enforcement personnel strikes at the very foundation of public trust in the justice system.

Additional district and sessions judge (fast track court-III) Ravi Kumar Diwakar awarded the death sentence, saying the police force is the backbone of society and that the murder of a law enforcer undermines public confidence in law and order.

"The police force is the backbone of society. When a guardian of the law falls, it is not merely the loss of one life; it also shakes society's faith in law and order. At such a time, it is the...