JOIN USThe only crime of 19-year old Farzana (name changed), a resident of Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar district was that she had fallen in love and that too with someone from a different community.
Farzana was killed by her own family members for insisting on marrying her lover. The family members not only strangled her to death but also quietly buried her at the village graveyard.
An alert village chowkidar, however, suspected foul play and informed police. The police arrested Farzana’s father, who was among the alleged culprits, on Friday.
According to the reports, Farzana was having an affair with a Dalit youth from the same village for the past three years. Farzana’s family did not approve of their relationship.
The family members wanted her to marry someone from her own community, but Farzana remained adamant and refused to marry the youth chosen by her parents.
Angry over her refusal, Farzana’s father Hasan and three other relatives strangled her to death on Wednesday night and quietly buried her at the graveyard on Thursday morning.
After being tipped off by the watchman, police exhumed the body on Thursday and sent it for post-mortem examination.
Hasan and another person were on Friday arrested after an FIR was lodged in this connection and efforts were on to trace the others, police said.
Killing for the sake of family honour is rampant in UP, especially in parts of the Jat-dominated western region. Over the years, several couples have been targeted for refusing to obey the diktat of the family.
The powerful khaps (caste panchayats) have also made
it clear that they will not allow love marriages against the wishes of the family.