Click to play videoChandigarh: Nineteen-year-old Poonam's blank look speaks of the trauma she has suffered at the hands of her family. Her relatives, threw her into a canal at Tibbi, near Haryana's border with Rajasthan, and left her to die. All because she, a Jat girl, married a Dalit boy.
“They forcibly made me sit in a jeep and took me to the canal. I was thrown into the canal by my father and other relatives,” Poonam said.
Poonam managed to get out of the canal and hid until she was helped by strangers. The police are now searching for her relatives, who are absconding.
“We have registered a case against seven persons, including her relatives and are searching for the accused,” Investigating Officer Karam Singh said.
But this is not the end of Poonam's tragedy. Afraid of retribution, the boy she loved, Mukhram, has also deserted her. Now, a completely dejected-looking Poonam said, “I want to live on my own. I have no faith in anyone now."
In Poonam's village Bani, and many others in caste-conscious Haryana, this is not an uncommon story. Caste-based panchayats continue to support honour killings, despite the Government's efforts to educate villagers.
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