A young woman Sanjana (21) shoots a direct question-‘Is love marriage a bad thing?’. She got married to Neeraj Panwar in April-2021. Grieving over loss of her husband, Sanjana recalled their marriage in April-2021, threats from family, and questioned what was wrong in getting married to a person she loved.
“We got married because we loved each other. My brothers had been threatening to kill us both. They said their name has been stained. We have lodged a complaint at police station who have assured they will not let anything happen to us. But what did the police do? They did not do anything,” said Ms Sanjana. The young couple’s two-month-old son squeaked as she spoke.
When asked why her family members gave the threats, she said they were against the love marriage. Police called her family members for counseling but they have not attended it.
Neeraj’s family members, including three generations above him, stay at Begum Bazaar. But the couple stayed at a relative’s place in Shamshergunj for over a year.
All members of Neeraj run groundnuts business in the trade market. However, he has had stayed away from it. “He started to attend the business because of some problems. My brothers who saw that waited for him to be alone to attack,” said Ms Sanjana. Neeraj resumed doing the business only a month ago.
Fearing they might attack again if released from jail after a few years, the young widow- with her two-month-old son by her side-demanded that the five attackers be hanged. “My husband was killed in the middle of busy market. How much time does it take for them to barge into our home and attack us? I need justice,” she said.
Neeraj’s father Rajendra Kumar Prasad urged the government to bring in a law to protect people who get married out of love.
‘Wrists slit’
Stains of blood have dried on the head of 61-year-old Jagdish Prasad Panwar. He was pillion rider on the bike driven by his grandson Neeraj when they were attacked by five persons on Friday night. Recalling the brutal attack, the elderly man said that everything was over in two to three minutes.
“We were going to a shop around 7.30 p.m. They came from behind, threw chilli powder on us which fell into our eyes. They attacked us with weapons,” said Mr Jagdish holding his left hand which got severely injured.
Mr Jagdish said that Neeraj had tattoos on wrists. “Neeraj name was written on one wrist, and Sanjana’s name on another. They slit the wrists,” he said.
