Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh:
Another honour killing has come to the fore, this time not far from Lucknow. Seventeen-year-old Pushpa was allegedly murdered by her own brother in Uttar Pradesh's Sitapur district for refusing to marry a man chosen by her family because she was in love with someone else.
But perhaps what is more chilling is the reaction of the mother who cried, not for her dead daughter but for the son who she says defended the family's honour.
"I am not upset about my daughter but I am upset about the loss of my son, who only did this to save my family' honour. If he had not killed her I would have," said her mother Prana.
She was killed with a sickle and buried. When Pushpa was killed, prana was out distributing her wedding card.
The murder has found support in the family and village. Pushpa's brothers are glad she is dead; they believe in punishment to those who dishonor their family, even if it's their sister.
"We are glad she is dead," said her brother Sachinidra.
Pushpa's family remains unrepentive, for in this village there are only a handful of people who spoke against the brutal end of Pushpa whose only crime was - that she dared to love someone else and dared to be with him. And that perhaps is the most shocking and disturbing reality in an India that is taking new steps every day.
Another honour killing has come to the fore, this time not far from Lucknow. Seventeen-year-old Pushpa was allegedly murdered by her own brother in Uttar Pradesh's Sitapur district for refusing to marry a man chosen by her family because she was in love with someone else.
But perhaps what is more chilling is the reaction of the mother who cried, not for her dead daughter but for the son who she says defended the family's honour.
"I am not upset about my daughter but I am upset about the loss of my son, who only did this to save my family' honour. If he had not killed her I would have," said her mother Prana.
She was killed with a sickle and buried. When Pushpa was killed, prana was out distributing her wedding card.
The murder has found support in the family and village. Pushpa's brothers are glad she is dead; they believe in punishment to those who dishonor their family, even if it's their sister.
"We are glad she is dead," said her brother Sachinidra.
Pushpa's family remains unrepentive, for in this village there are only a handful of people who spoke against the brutal end of Pushpa whose only crime was - that she dared to love someone else and dared to be with him. And that perhaps is the most shocking and disturbing reality in an India that is taking new steps every day.
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