Rise of Honour Killings in Telangana A Grave Concern

Marriages are made in heaven, goes an adage. But marrying the live of your life these days may land you straight in hell. Honour Killings have become the order of the day in Telangana. We wonder how many more lives will end in a brutal manner. Falling in love is the only mistake these people did? In Telangana, within just 15 days time, two honour killings took place. Self-choice marriage against the wishes of the parents is a crime in some families. Here are a few cases of honour killings that took place in Telangana.

Sanjana - Neeraj:

A 24-year-old Neeraj Panwar was murdered in front of his grandfather allegedly by the family members of his wife as he was from a different caste on the evening of May 20. The incident took place in Begum Bazaar, Hyderabad. A year ago, Sanjana and Neeraj got married and it was a love marriage.

Ashrin - Nagaraju:

Syed Ashrin Sulthana and Billipuram Nagaraju were students of Government Junior College in Marpally in Vikarabad district. Nagaraju belonged to SC, while Ashrin is a Muslim. It was a childhood love affair. Nagaraju married Ashrin against the wishes of the latter's family members. Syed Mobin Ahmad, brother of Nagaraju's wife Ashrin Sulthana hatched a conspiracy with Mohammad Masood Ahmad and murdered Nagaraju.

Avanthi - Hemanth:

Avanthi and Hemanth, who knew each other for more than eight years decided to take their relationship to the next level. They got married against their parent's wishes and knowledge in 2020. Hemanth and Avanthi were kidnapped by the accused persons. Avanthi escaped, but Hemanth Kumar was strangulated to death.

Amrutha - Pranay:

Pranay from Dalit Christain Community married a woman from another caste. Pranay was murdered on 14 September 2018 in Miryalaguda in front of his wife Amrutha Varshini, who was five months pregnant. Again a case of honour killing.

Swathi - Naresh:

Swathi who was from the Reddy community eloped with Naresh, who was born under another caste. They married in Mumbai on March 27, 2017 against the wishes of their families. Naresh was hit with an iron rod and later burnt. When the body didn't burn completely, the accused poured petrol and set it ablaze again. Srinivas, the father of Swathi collected the remains in a bag and dumped it in Musi river.

Bhargavi - Ramakrishna:

Ramakrishna of Lingarajupalli and Bhargavi of Yadagirigutta were in love and married in August 2020 against the wishes of Bhargavi’s parents. The father-in-law of the deceased allegedly offered money to a gang to kill him.

The cases of young blood transgressing boundaries of their religion are on the rise. 

However, the atrocities against those committing such 'acts' are also on the rise. Telangana has seen a surge in the cases of honour killings in recent days. Couples who chose to marry outside their religion have only met tragic ends. Cases of organised execution of these couples because they chose to marry outside their caste show the dominance of caste pride over humanity.

Interestingly, such brutal lynching was unheard of or rare in South India until a few years ago. The prevalence rate was higher in states like Bihar and UP. Unfortunately, we are now witnessing it in our own state, which certainly is a cause for concern.

The act of love is supposed to bring us together. Love means unification, not division. We have made it a habit to adhere to norms set by the authority. Authority in form of the government, the so-called Gurus, parents, teachers, and anyone who tends to give us some vague clarity. In the case of choosing a life partner, in India, parents, and family members play a crucial role. Isn’t it supposed to be a decision that is ought to be made by an individual's choice? Well, ideally that is how it is supposed to be done, but except for a few people no one really understands this concept of self-autonomy. To choose a person to live with is a choice that needs to be exercised with a great deal of pride. It is a private affair; why then is the family so involved in helping a person choose his/her life partner? The celebration of a wedding is certainly not a private affair as you are letting the world know that, "Hey! This is the person that I m going to live with." In this case, you are celebrating your choice, and people attend your wedding in order to witness you celebrate your life as a result of it. 

Your family’s pride is so puny that it gets shattered like a mirror the moment you marry a person whom you like. They are hurt because you refused to marry the guy/girl of their choice. As a result of this utter disappointment, the head of your family anoints another member of the family as though he’s a King, only to kill your beloved partner. What kind of a world are we living in? There's so much dishonour happening in the name of 'honour'. In an unfortunate turn of events, the state of Telangana has witnessed several cases of honour killings in the past few years.

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