Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Lonely hunters
Love has the power to mend a broken heart, it is drilled into our heads all the time. But love can also kill, especially if it is between two individuals belonging to different castes or religions. In India of the 21st century, casteism and orthodoxy are still so well entrenched in certain pockets that an Ahir boy and his family members can be brutally hacked to death for the boy8217;s daring act of falling in love with a Brahmin girl. Or a Muslim girl can be fatally attacked by her own brothers for loving a Hindu boy.
The person who gave me the information said the killings were, most probably, the handiwork of a relative of a regional politician whowas desperately trying to hush up the case to save his kin. After reaching there, however, I realised that it was actually an affair of the heart that was at the core of a long brewing hatred between two clans which had culminated in brutal killings on the fateful day.
The story was a very common one. A boy and a girl who grew up together fell in love and decided to spend the rest of their lives together. The decision, however, proved to be their undoing. 8220;Due to the fact that the girl8217;s Brahmin family was much poorer than the boy8217;s, there did not seem to be any objection from their side initially. But as word spread, other Brahmins led by a local politician8217;s kin got together and incited the girl8217;s young brothers to avenge the dishonour that the duo had brought to the community,8221; a senior superintendent of police told me.
Sure enough, the dishonour was avenged. One evening as the boy was passing through the girl8217;s village to get to his fields, the clansmen caught him and attacked him with swords andaxes. As the news spread and his three brothers rushed barefoot to rescue him, they were also attacked and killed by the armed assailants. In an apparent bid to send out a message, their mutilated bodies were then dragged through the fields and dumped on the road leading to their village.
The police later discovered that the Brahmin girl, too, had disappeared under mysterious circumstances a few months ago and her body was discovered in the fields the next morning. The whole village still talks in hushed tones of the alleged killing of a Brahmin girl by her own brothers as they could not persuade her to sever her relationship with the lower-caste boy.
The other case was closer home. A friend working for a cargo company suddenly disclosed over drinks one evening that he was in love with a Muslim girl. I congratulated him for having finally found an anchor in life and hoped it would put an end to his vagabond ways. For good measure, I assured him that if he needed any legal help, my contacts on the legalbeat would come in handy.
A few days later, the same friend was seen in a dishevelled state, sporting a depressed look and a three-day stubble. 8220;Her own brothers tried to kill her. It was a common friend and some relatives who intervened and saved her life. But it is all over now. She will not be able to see me again, ever,8221; is all that he could manage to say before bursting into sobs.
I don8217;t know about war, but it seems that all is still not exactly fair in love.
