Bhawna and Abhishek had planned to wait for some more time before tying the knot but were hurried into marriage owing to circumstances beyond their control. The girl’s parents had fixed her marriage with someone else.
The couple had courted each other for the past two years and Bhawna’s parents had disapproved of their relationship right from the word go. Marrying into another community, her parents felt, would besmirch the family name.
Though undeterred, the couple were keen to win over the hearts of family members from either sides. Initially reluctant, Abhishek’s parents had given their consent, but opposition from Bhawna’s family intensified with time.
“In the past one month, they had aggressively started looking for suitors for Bhawna and our pleas to let us marry were dismissed. The family even fixed Bhawna’s engagement with a Gurgaon-based boy. That is when we decided that something needed to be done. Getting married was the only practical solution in sight,” recalled Abhishek.
Sharing his story, Abhishek said that he first met Bhawna in August 2012 at Sri Venkateswara College in Dhaula Kuan where she was a final year student of an undergraduate course in Sanskrit. They had met through a common friend and had taken an instant liking for each other. Love blossomed from there on until the gruesome incident changed it all.
“They had been torturing her mentally. Her uncle beat her since the time we disclosed our relationship about a year ago. But neither Bhawna nor I ever thought they would resort to murdering her,” he said.
Bhawna’s husband is now determined to pursue the case legally and ensure justice for her.
