Inter-caste marriage ends in honour killing
Dipak Kumar Dash, TNN, May 9, 2010, 02.49am ISTA distant dream - "One caste, one creed, one God for Mankind" Sree Naryana Guru
MUZAFFARNAGAR: A 23-year-old youth, Ajit Saini, was brutally killed by the brother of the Jat girl he loved and claimed to have married and his body has been found probably a week after the murder.
Saini's throat had been slit and legs chopped off. His name tattooed on his left hand had been burnt off with acid.
The alleged killer, Anuj Tomar, has been arrested and is said to have confessed to the crime. There is no trace of his sister, Anshu, 19, and police suspect she too has been done away with.
"He has admitted to killing Ajit to salvage his family's honour. He has named an associate, Ankit, who helped him," SSP Praveen Kumar told TOI. "Though he still maintains that his sister is safe, we are not convinced. We have not got any conclusive evidence to believe this. And from his attitude, we suspect that Anshu would have met a similar fate."
The SP said Anuj was opposed to the alliance and has told police that "he could not take it anymore and that the two had crossed all limits".
Ajit's family said he and Anshu were studying at a local private institute. They had been friends for three years. Ajit had done his bachelors in microbiology and Anshu was studying biotechnology. Anshu belonged to Baraut in Uttar Pradesh.
Ajit's uncle Ram Kishore said that about a year ago his brother had seen Anshu outside their house and had asked her "to stay away". Their affair continued.
Ajit Saini lived in Kukra, a semi-urban village on the outskirts of Muzaffarnagar. The girl, Anshu, who belongs to Baraut in UP, was staying at her aunt’s place in Bachan Singh Colony, just 2km from Ajit’s place. They had been friends for the past three years.
Ajit’s uncle, Ram Kishore, said that about a year back his brother had seen Anshu outside their house and she had said she was Ajit’s classmate. ‘‘My brother had asked her to stay away from Ajit but their affair continued and we had no inkling.’’
He added that last month Ajit said he wished to join an institute in Pune and his father, Om Veer, a farmer, arranged for Rs 2.5 lakh for this. ‘‘He sold his tractor and took loans from friends. Between April 16 and 29, Ajit withdrew Rs 52,000 from the account,’’ said Ram Kishore.
Ajit left home on April 18, ostensibly for Pune. The next morning, Anshu’s family members came to Ajit’s place looking for him. ‘‘They said Anshu had run away with Ajit, threatening us with dire consequences. Next day, we managed to get in touch with them and they told us they had got married. We persuaded them to return so that our honour was not sullied,’’ recalled Ram Kishore. The matter seemed to have been sorted out and Anshu was taken away to Baraut.
Ten days later, on April 29, Ajit left for Mumbai to pick up his brother-in-law and go to Pune. ‘‘He called up that day and said he had boarded the train to Mumbai from New Delhi. Next day when his brother-in-law called him up to know about his whereabouts, someone else responded to the call. Then the mobile was switched off,’’ said a family member.
They looked for Ajit but couldn’t find him anywhere. His mutilated body was finally found in the New Mandi area on Thursday and identified by the family. Anuj was arrested on Friday evening.
‘‘He told us he and his friend, Ankit, had called Ajit and then caught him and hacked him to death. We suspect that some of his family members and others would have instigated him or abetted the heinous crime,’’ the SSP said.
He said they were now trying to look at a few unidentified bodies found recently in other districts. ‘‘We will get a clear picture about Anshu in the next 48 hours,’’ said the SSP.
dipak.dash@timesgroup.com
Casteism still a curse for India even after 63 year of Freedom. Freedom for whom?
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