India's Real Life "Romeo & Juliet" -- the Hindu/Muslim version

[villager]

India's Romeo and Juliet tragedy

By Sanjoy Majumder
BBC News, Phaphunda, India

It was a story buried in the middle of the Indian newspapers.

Two star-crossed lovers committed suicide after the local village council, or panchayat, ordered them to annul their marriage or face death.

Amreen was Muslim and her husband, Lokesh, a Hindu. Their match was simply unacceptable to their communities. The couple poisoned themselves.

Now police have charged the entire panchayat with abetting suicide.

'Fatal mistake'

To find out more, we headed east from Delhi into the north Indian countryside.

A little more than two hours later, we found ourselves in the village of Phaphunda. Like most others in the area, it was small and unremarkable.

The villagers, mostly farmers, live in houses built close to each other, with narrow lanes running through them. Horse-carts and cattle amble along - Delhi seems far away.
Attitudes here can be unforgiving. I headed first to the house of the village chief, Achan Singh, who heads the village council.

A tall, well-built man in his 40s, he was very welcoming, pouring out steaming cups of tea as we sat on his carpet. Yes, he had heard about the incident but no it was not his panchayat that had anything to do with it.

"It was a gathering of elders from the two families," he told me.

"The boy and girl were told that their marriage would not be allowed. They would have to leave each other or else they would be killed," he said in a matter of fact way.

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8109805.stm

[lapfog_1]

1. I know of a couple like that...

He is Sikh and she is Muslim. They met at a university in India and fell in love. Both now live here in the US incognito because her family threatens to kill them both. His family disapproves as well so he is no longer welcome in his home village (however, they haven't threatened to kill them and his mother will talk to them both over the phone).

They live under assumed identities (not officially) and in a big city here... but they know that her uncles (three of them) are routinely taking trips to the US looking for them. They move around constantly, and rarely go out together. Only their very closest friends know about their situation. Still, I fear for them.

[fujiyama]

2. That is pretty scary

It's insane that people have such nutty beliefs in the 21st century. I really wonder if people will be able to let go if this irrational hatred.

[lapfog_1]

3. The odd part

is that when I talked to them about the situation... they don't think that it is odd or nutty or anything other than "expected". Plus, for their culture, to be without family is very very hard. Much harder than for me, for example, as I have lived pretty much without family "support" since I left high school... They think that choosing to move thousands of miles from "home" is very strange indeed!

It's a cultural thing (even more than religion, I think).

[villager]

4. they have to live *here* icognito?

Are there people over here who are after them?

[lapfog_1]

5. Yes...

Her uncles travel frequently to the US and are constantly asking about her in the Pakistani Punjab communities and mosques. They have hired private investigators (so I'm told) to try to track them down. Her family will (according to them) never stop... even years or decades later. They both actually expect to be murdered someday.

[villager]

6. Good Lord... (so to speak!)

One almost wonders if going "more public" would be safer for them?

Perhaps that, or moving to Switzerland and not telling anyone...

[lapfog_1]

7. No, going public will not ensure their safety.

Her family doesn't care if they are caught killing the couple. In fact, they will confess to the "crime" as per (as I understand it) Islamic "law". The killing of the couple will restore the family honor.

The US is a good place for them to hide (they live in a BIG city) as not much is made of their ethnicity. There is also a large community of Indians to buy traditional food and goods from (though they usually send a friend to go shopping for them). Also, they can both be employed here without leaving a trail to where they live.

I do worry about the Private Investigators that the family has hired to track them down, but they've been living here like this for about 5 years now.

[villager]

8. Best to them, and Godspeed. An actual God, who doesn't "command" people to kill other people for

...for the "crime" of loving someone else...