Why are cops counting unmarried men?

While a government was being toppled in New Delhi, just a couple of hours8217; drive away, India was witnessing one of the strangest census...

While a government was being toppled in New Delhi, just a couple of hours8217; drive away, India was witnessing one of the strangest census exercises in its history. It is still a work in progress.

Surveying the population in the western Uttar Pradesh district of Muzaffarnagar are its policemen. The list is very specific. Their pitch: If you are an unmarried man, elderly and the owner of some property, register now. Then go and make a will, they say. It may stop you from getting killed.

Childless couples have also been invited to join in this exercise. The police have already compiled a list of 5,539 unmarried old men and childless couples. They believe the total number could touch 40,000.

In a district where there are many more men then women, and where an ancient custom stops many men from marrying, the number of bachelors is unnaturally high. The trouble comes when they start to age. That is when many of their own relatives start eyeing their land and, in many cases, ending up murdering them.

So far, five elderly unmarried men 8212; called randuwas here 8212; have been killed this year. Last year, the situation was much worse. Although the police were not specifically watching out this trend then, they say most of the 178 murders committed in 2003 were by family members. That is what spurred the police to act.

8216;8216;We have compiled a list to tell people that we have a record of the randuwas and that if anything happens to them, the family members will be held responsible,8217;8217; said district SSP Navniet Sekera. 8216;8216;We ask these people to make a will and then tell family members about it so that they know that the land will not go to them.8217;8217;

In an effort to avert such an eventuality, 50 unmarried men and childless couples willed their land to the government.

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What makes these elderly men more vulnerable, ironically, is a custom that was meant to prevent family land from being divided. Not all the men married. So, if there were four sons in a land-owning family, only two of them would marry. 8216;8216;We did a study on the randuwa culture and found that this is prevalent in Muzaffarnagar and Baghpat,8217;8217; said Sekera.

Add to that the sex ratio 8212; there are 1,000 men to just 872 women in Muzaffarnagar 8212; and you have thousands of ageing bachelors in the district. When the area started getting criminalised, other family members took to killing them as a short-cut to riches. 8216;8216;There is a perception that whatever you do you can get away with it,8217;8217; said Sekera.

Childless couples are in the same boat. Brij Bhushan Tyagi, a retired MP government employee, and his wife Om Devi, who own 45 bighas have been receiving threats from their relatives for two months. The relatives want to take over their property. As an insurance, and a sign of defiance, the couple have willed their land to the government.

Five kilometres away, Jagmer Singh, who owned 12 bighas, was gunned down by his own brother8217;s wife last month. He had feared the worst and even asked for security, but it could not save him.