16-yr-old girl, 25-yr-old lover burnt to death in honour killing

isaac

May 15, 2015 3:04 PM

In a classic case of Indian honour killing, a 16-year-old girl and her 25-year-old lover were beaten to death and burnt together by her family for loving someone they did not approve of.

Funeral Pyre where the lovers were burnt

In a case of honour killing which is a widespread phenomenon in rural India, a 16-year-old girl, Parvati Kumari, and her 25-year-old lover, Jairam Manjhi, were beaten to death and their bodies set ablaze by her relatives and kinsmen because they did not approve of the relationship.

The Daily Mail reports that the teenager and the young man were beaten to death by 100-strong mob of mainly women before their bodies were burnt on the same funeral pyre on Thursday afternoon.

Kumari and Manjhi, who was married to someone else with three children and a relative of Kumari, were attacked with sticks and stones by a group of mainly women in Ametha.

The couple were attacked by relatives in the suspected honour killing after refusing to compromise their alleged six-month relationship.

According to police, no one in the village tried to stop the attack and police only heard of it when someone from a neighbouring village reported the crime.

Manu Maharaj, police chief of the Gaya district, said the couple were brought before a council of elders by the girl's family after they eloped and were found at a nearby train station trying to flee.

He said:

"They mercilessly beat the couple and later burnt their dead bodies outside the village. There were more than 100 villagers present when the couple was lynched.

It seems to be an honour killing case. More than 15 people were involved. Some of the family members have been arrested."

India has long witnessed honour killings where couples are targeted because their families or communities disapprove of their relationships.

The killings are carried out by relatives or village elders to protect the family's reputation and pride.

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