The Hindu : National : “Honour killing”: victim’s kin seek NCW , NHRC help

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Wednesday, Jul 11, 2007
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“Honour killing”: victim’s kin seek NCW , NHRC help

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Traumatised by the murder of their young son, Manoj, and the social boycott for protesting against the “honour killing,” an aggrieved family from Karora village in Kaithal district of Haryana on Tuesday approached the National Commission for Women (NCW) and the National Human Rights Commission for help.

The NCW has asked the District Superintendent of Police to look into the matter and apprise the Commission of the action taken within four months.

Manoj and Babli were killed on June 15 reportedly by close relatives of the girl’s family while they were on their way to Chandigarh after giving a statement before the Sessions Court at Kaithal. The court ordered police protection for the couple until they reached their destination but the policemen dropped them off at a nearby village from where they boarded a Haryana Roadways bus. However, shortly after, they were pulled down from the bus, taken away in a car and done to death. When the police recovered their bodies, they cremated them without informing anyone.

Talking to reporters here, Manoj’s sister Seema said the community was against the two getting married as they were from the same caste and ‘gotra.’ The two left the village without telling anyone on April 6. They later married in a court. Fearing for Manoj’s life, Seema and her widowed mother went to lodge a missing person’s complaint with the police. However, despite repeated attempts and directions from the Punjab and Haryana High Court and the Chief Minister, they failed. On the other hand, the girl’s family — who are landowners — lodged a complaint of kidnapping against Manoj, saying that Babli was a minor. Seema and her mother were named as accused. The local ‘khap’ (caste) panchayat pronounced an ex-parte decision to socially boycott Manoj’s family and said that anyone trying to interact with them at any level would be fined Rs. 25,000. “We can’t go to school and we have to walk 30 km to buy basic things such as groceries. Apart from this, we are threatened. The attitude of the police is equally bad,” said Seema. The police arrested Babli’s family members and relatives but not Ganga Raj, a Congress activist who pronounced the panchayat decision in the absence of the sarpanch even though he was not a member, she added. Condemning the killing of the couple, the All-India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) has demanded protection for the family. “We also call upon the State Government to intervene and provide relief to the family,” AIDWA general secretary Sudha Sundararaman said.

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