Posted on 05/11/2008 10:15:40 PM PDT by BlackVeil
12-year-old murdered in the name of 'honour'
A Deadly calm prevails in the tiny village of Garhia, 15 kilometres off Bulandshahr in the rural belt of western Uttar Pradesh. Through the quiet of the village, dominated by the Lodha Rajputa community, a backward caste, one can only hear whispers — that of how a father beat his 12-year-old daughter to death to “save his honour”.
The victim’s grandmother, Natho (60), told Newsline that her sons killed Mamta after they found a boy, Pintu (14), her schoolmate, in her room late on Friday night. Father Jagdish Singh and his brother Soni Singh then allegedly burnt her body and dumped it in a well.
The police are, however, yet to recover the body and have registered a case of murder against Singh and his two brothers, who are at large.
Natho said Mamta was dear to her, but what she did was “unacceptable” and that she “deserved” the punishment. “How could she let a boy into her room?”
“We were sleeping and were supposed to wake early because there was a wedding in the family. Around 9.30 pm, I heard a noise and went to Mamta’s room. I saw Pintu there. Seeing the boy, her father and uncles got angry and started beating her up. The beating continued till she died,” Natho said with a straight face.
“I had taken care of the girl since she was nine days old,” Natho said. “Her mother had lost her mental balance after her birth. But Mamta did a wrong thing and I will not do any kriya (last rites) for her. I am now worried about my sons.”
Mamta’s mother does not live with the family. Her father had remarried and has three minor children from his second wife.
According to Natho, Pintu, who lives next door, had managed to escape initially after he was found in Mamta’s room, but was tracked and beaten up. “We would have killed him too, but the villagers came and stopped us,” said Sarvesh, Mamta’s sister.
Pintu has been admitted to the Bulandshahr District Hospital with severe injuries. His family, however, claimed he sustained the injuries in an accident. “He fell off his motorcycle while returning home from a wedding,” said Bishi, his grandmother.
Mamta and Pintu studied in Janta Adarsh Inter College, Garhia-Manpur.
Bulandshahr SSP Rajkumar Singh said: “We haven’t found the girl’s body yet. But based on the villagers’ account, we have charged the girl’s father and uncles with murder and are trying to trace her body.”
This has got to end.
Agreed - this is absolutely shameful and inhuman.
Singh, (lion), the name of one of the perpetrators, is normally a Sikh name and not a Muslim name. This would suggest that what took place was not exactly the same as a Islam inspired honour killing, though it is similar.
He who slays in the name of honour has none.
My point was not to confuse what happened with the label "honor Killing. " Islamic "honor killing" can be premeditated and is often planned in advance.
This is not exactly the same thing. It seems from the limited detail of the story to be more of an emotional response, which was unpremeditated.
It is still wrong, but should not be labeled an 'honor killing." There is a difference between premeditated first degree murder, a genuine "honor killing," and an angry parent finding a boy in the girl's bedroom, and the father and family beating up the girl and then chasing after and beating up her boy friend, which would be second degree murder.
Why does it seem people in India (and other Honor-Killing countries) are always going to a wedding?
Ah, I understand!
Thank you for taking the time to explain it.
So ‘Rage Killing’ might be a better way to describe it.
Many may disagree with me, including the father in question, but I say he needs the restraining power of Jesus Christ in his life.
I think it is an example of honour killing, and I notice that the family are unrepentant, and see their crime as justified. They would have preplanned it if they had the time. Such killings are known in both the Hindu and Sikh community.
One small ray of light is that the villagers acted to save the boy, and have given evidence for a police investigation.
Yes, that is true ... why it is, I cannot tell you.
That the family is unrepentant and see their crime as justified, is true, however, it is not the same as an "honor killing," A rage killing, the circumstances being an affront to morality, the boy was in her bedroom evidently by her consent, is not quite the same thing a "divinely revealed" Koranic Sura, commanding it.
Neither the Sikh scriptures nor the Hindu preach or command such a thing. The Koran, as interpreted under Sharia law does. The one is the outworking of public morality and outrage, the other claims "divine revelation."
The real difference is that, in the west, we would shoot the boy first, if we found him in our daughter's bedroom, as a probable rapist.
But this is not an accepted practice by Hindu’s that I am sure of. It is acceptable for Muslims.
Current population of India: Over 1.1 billion. Paraphrasing Richard Pryor, “Somebody doing some serious marrying over there.”
Recent cases involving 'honour' in the UK include various religious groups and also male and female cases:
• A Wakefield man axed to death by family members for continuing an affair with a younger female relative. Beheading is a way of committing an 'honour killing' in rural southern Pakistan.
• A 49-year-old man in Bradford, Jahangir Hussein, jailed last year for murdering his wife and two daughters because he (wrongly) thought they were having affairs.
• Mohammed Merheban, a 25-year-old who killed his friend and brother-in-law whom he suspected of having an affair with his wife. He told Liverpool Crown Court he had committed the murder because his honour had been insulted…
• Jaspal Sohal, a west London woman battered to death by her husband with a hammer. He saw killing her as preferable to having her leaving him and 'damaging his izzat' (personal honour).
• A young Sikh woman who married a Hindu man having her home burnt to the ground by her family.
• A prospective son-in-law blinded in one eye by his fiancée's Sikh brother - on the orders of his father - because he 'was not good enough'.
One of the most high profile recent British cases of honor killing was that of a Sikh woman, murdered at the instigation of her husband’s family:
Bachan Kaur Athwal, Mother-in-law, 70, and son Sukhdave Singh Athwal, 43, of Willow Tree Lane, Hayes, west London, were convicted of murder Surjit Kaur Athwal, 27, customs officer. She was a wife of Sukhdave Singh Athwal and a mother of two children.
… Michael Worsley, QC, for the prosecution said, " When Bachan Athwal learnt that her daughter-in-law wanted a divorce, Bachan Athwal called a family meeting to discuss her killing. "Family honour was at stake,"
... The Chief Inspector Clive Driscoll said, "I would like to pay tribute to the bravery of the witnesses, whose information and co-operation with us has resulted in the outcome today, I hope that this demonstrates that police will deal with any witnesses that come forward sensitively and that they will be fully supported. The family members then revealed that Bachan Athwal had discussed "getting rid" of her daughter-in-law."
… Micky Singh, of the Metropolitan Police Sikh Association, added: "The outcome of the trial sends out a clear message to those that hide behind Sikhism to justify their horrendous crimes."
Surjit Athwal's family said, a guilty verdict has brought the struggle and pain of nine years to a positive conclusion.
http://www.nriinternet.com/NRI_Murdered/INDIA/2007/Surjit_Athwal/index.htm
Yes as I said it is common for Hindu husbands to kill the wife if the endowment is too small.
1. The axed man killed because he was having an affair. What religion are they and was it over the endowment that had to be returned?
2 and 3 Hussein & Mohammed - obviously Muslim.
4. All too common murder over the endowment.
5. More details needed no one shown to have died.
6. Endowment issue key point ‘wasn’t good enough’ He would need to be killed to save the daughter.
7. Again classic endowment issue.
This is the first time I have ever heard of a Hindu killing their own kid over something like this.
I never knew any of this & my daughter is married to a Sikh. I am glad she lives here & not India.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.