I was appalled to read about an increasing trend in ‘honour killings’ in India – prejudice at its most loathsome.
A recent article the Guardian highlighted a recent case where a young husband and wife, and her young cousin were killed, ‘each shot twice in the head last Sunday evening. They had no reason to suspect their murderers. One was Shobha’s brother, Mandeep. The other was Monica’s brother, Ankit. The third was a local boy known to them both’.
According to Prem Chowdhry, a respected historian and researcher:
…it was unsurprising that young men had taken the lead role. In the neighbouring state of Haryana, foeticide of girls has led to a ratio of 800 women to every 1,000 men. Women also “marry up” the husband came from the higher rajput class leaving more than a third of lower caste men without wives, she said.
“The social situation is very volatile. The marriage market is very tight and that causes huge problems. Youngsters react very strongly. If a woman makes an independent choice she has to pay the penalty,” Chowdhry said.
In Wazirpur yesterday, teenage boys were backing the murderers. “Whatever happened is for the best. There’s a limit to how much you can take. I’d do the same to my sister,” said Rohit, 17.
Never take equality for granted.
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