Rohtak couple found dead in suspect honour killing

In a case of alleged honour killing in Rohtak, Haryana, a boy was beheaded and a girl was killed and cremated for running away to New Delhi.

The couple were allegedly killed by the girl's family. Where the girl was publicly killed and cremated, the boy was first thrashed, his arms and legs broken, and then beheaded, after which his body was left outside his house.

The two were from the Jat community and were residing in Gharnavati village in Kalanaur District.

Rohtak's Superintendent of Police Rajesh Duggal said that the couple were killed after they were brought back to the village.

"A boy Dharmendar and a girl Nidhi who were friends had left the village on the pretext of going to college yesterday, but did not return. The next of kin started searching and contacted them through mobiles after which they were brought back from Delhi. Both of them were killed in the village," said Duggal.

The two were pursuing higher education in Rohtak and had reportedly decided to elope.

The couple was contacted by the girl's relatives who assured her that they would not be harmed when they would return to the village.

In India, there are no official figures of men and women shot, lynched, stabbed or poisoned by their families or communities in recent years.

The Supreme Court had called for an end to customary practices which promote honour killings, saying the brutal tradition of parents killing their children to protect their so-called reputation is barbaric and shameful.

The intermingling of caste and religion remains a taboo-not only for largely rural illiterate populations, who have lived under a system of feudalism for centuries, but even for educated, well-off families in urban India.

The top court judges had directed all administrative and police departments to ensure that couples in such relationships are not harassed or subjected to violence, adding that inter-caste marriages are in the national interest and would help dismantle the age-old caste system.