‘I am just so angry…. Can’t give you a rational answer’: Anand Mahindra on Greater Noida dowry death case
Nikki Payla's older sister lodged a complaint against her in-laws, accusing Vipin of setting Nikki on fire at their house in Sirsa village on August 21. The sister is married to Nikki's husband's older brother.
3 min read
The Greater Noida Police have arrested her husband, Vipin Bhati, 30, and mother-in-law, Daya, 55, for allegedly killing her after they failed to extract more dowry from her parents, among other family members.
Amid a nationwide outrage over the death of 26-year-old Nikki Payla, who was allegedly burnt to death over dowry demands by her husband and his family in Uttar Pradesh’s Greater Noida, Anand Mahindra, Chairman, Mahindra Group, said Monday the news of the incident has left him “angry”.
The Greater Noida Police have arrested her husband, Vipin Bhati, 30, and mother-in-law, Daya, 55, for allegedly killing her after they failed to extract more dowry from her parents, among other family members.
“I can’t give you a rational answer to that. I am just so angry. When you read about something like this, you think about all that you put in throughout your life to help the cause of girls’ education and give them the right to say no. Education gives them the right to say no to discrimination,” said Anand Mahindra, when asked about the Greater Noida case and the high cases of dowry in the country.
Kanchan, Nikki’s older sister, who is married to Vipin’s older brother Rohit Bhati, lodged a complaint against her in-laws, accusing Vipin of setting Nikki on fire at their house in Sirsa village on August 21.
They have also arrested Rohit, 28, and Satya Veer, her 55-year-old father-in-law.
Mahindra was speaking at the launch of the coffee table book, May a Million Buds Bloom, compiled by Nitya Manoj Kumar, that chronicles the impact made by ‘Project Nanhi Kali’, founded by him in 1996.
Project Nanhi Kali provides holistic education encompassing a sports curriculum to young girls across the country by facilitating sponsorship and financial aid for underprivileged girls’ education. Over the past three decades, the project has helped at least 8,70,000 girls across 15 states, and more than 7,600 government schools.
Kumar has captured the impact of Nanhi Kali on the girls, their families and communities over the past three years in the book
A recent graduate of the International Baccalaureate program at the International School of Hyderabad, Kumar, who travelled across the country to capture the experiences of the girls through her lens, said the stories captured in the book tell tales of confidence, hope and transformation.
Mahindra, who launched the book on Monday, said, “Our endeavour to empower underprivileged girls through academic support, sports, technology and now skill training is a testament of how Project Nanhi Kali has evolved with changing times. The book May a Million Buds Bloom, through a combination of storytelling and visual art, offers readers a thought-provoking and soul-stirring glimpse into what change looks like beyond mere numbers.”
You May Like
