BALLA, India — Five armed men burst into the small room and courtyard at dawn, just as 21-year-old, 22-week pregnant, Sunita was drying her face on a towel.
They punched and kicked her stomach as she called out for her sleeping boyfriend "Jassa," 22-year-old Jasbir Singh, witnesses said. When he woke, both were dragged into waiting cars, driven away and strangled.
Their bodies, half-stripped, were laid out on the dirt outside Sunita's father's house for all to see, a sign that the family's "honor" had been restored by her cold-blooded murder.
A week later, the village of Balla, just a couple of hours drive from India's capital New Delhi, stands united behind the act, proud, defiant almost to a man.
Among the Jat caste of the conservative northern state of Haryana, it is taboo for a man and woman of the same village to marry. Although the couple were not related, they were seen in this deeply traditional society as brother and sister.
"From society's point of view, this is a very good thing," said 62-year-old farmer Balwan Arya, sitting smoking a hookah in the shade of a tree in a square with other elders from the village council or panchayat. "We have removed the blot."
Growing economic opportunities for young people and lower castes in Haryana have made "love marriages" more common, experts say, and the violent repression of them has risen in tandem as upper caste Jat men fight to hold on to power, status and property.
Sunita's father Om Prakash has confessed to murdering his pregnant daughter and her boyfriend, police told Reuters. An uncle and two cousins were among four others arrested.
But in Balla many people believe the father confessed merely to underline that he supported his daughter's killing, to satisfy honor and protect the real culprits among his family or village.
At their house, Sunita's mother did not emerge to talk. Instead, a young man on a motorbike tried to intimidate the Reuters team into leaving. It turned out he was another of Sunita's cousins, his father and brother held by police.
"We are not ashamed of it, absolutely not, we have the honor of doing the village proud," he said.
"We would not have had a face to show if we had not done this. It was the act of 'real men'."
"Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God" -Thomas Jefferson
"The tree of freedom must be nurtured from time to time with the blood of its patriots" -Thomas Jefferson
"When the Government Fears the People, There is Liberty; When the People Fear the Government, There is Tyranny." - Thomas Jefferson
Posts: 4725 | Location: Reggio di Calabria, Italy / New York United States | Registered: July 12, 2007
It sickens me to think that something like this can be considered 'normal' anywhere.
quote:
Originally posted by wizard: Animals to us
Normal for them....
"It's the sense of touch. In any real city, you walk, you know? You brush past people, people bump into you. In L.A., nobody touches you. We're always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something."
Posts: 616 | Location: United Kingdom | Registered: March 26, 2008
One of my medical assistants was born in that area. She was betrothed to a man who she met just a few days before her wedding. She and her husband have actually chosen a husband for their 12-year-old daughter.
I'd like to see them try something like that (re: the tale told by Sheepsheadbay) here in America.
Doc ***** Tobacco is a filthy weed, I like it...
SNOB Member 1033 1/3
Posts: 9547 | Location: New York City | Registered: May 02, 2002
Canada brings these people in by the plane load! They want all the benefits of being Canadian plus retaining their sharia law or whatever the hell they call it!
Non illegitimus carborundum
Posts: 2951 | Location: Welland | Registered: August 21, 2002
Originally posted by The EVP: Put them in a room with me, a baseball bat and a phone book. Come back in 15 minutes with a mop and bucket so I can clean up what's left of them.
Just curious, why do you need a phone book? _________________________________________________
"It's the sense of touch. In any real city, you walk, you know? You brush past people, people bump into you. In L.A., nobody touches you. We're always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something."
Posts: 616 | Location: United Kingdom | Registered: March 26, 2008
Originally posted by Docbarry: One of my medical assistants was born in that area. She was betrothed to a man who she met just a few days before her wedding. She and her husband have actually chosen a husband for their 12-year-old daughter.
I'd like to see them try something like that (re: the tale told by Sheepsheadbay) here in America.
My boss also has an arranged marriage. He was born in India and raised in England, while his wife was born in India and raised in Kenya. They only met about a month before their wedding.
Their marriage is an effective partnership, but "romance" was not a part of the equation for either of them.
So many cigars, so little time...
Posts: 2920 | Location: South of the Mason/Dixon Line | Registered: September 24, 2007
Its an old cop trick for beating the crap out of someone and leaving few marks.
I think the question was more of an insinuation that the phonebook was unnecessary and that only the bat was required before bludgeoning the candidate and the mop and bucket after to pick up the detritus.
QM Quality does not occur by chance. It is the result of intelligent activities.
Posts: 7968 | Location: Cigar land | Registered: March 10, 2003
Its an old cop trick for beating the crap out of someone and leaving few marks. My uncles used to talk about it when i was a kid they are all N.Y.P D.
Surely the bats gona leave something noticeable! _______________________________________________
"It's the sense of touch. In any real city, you walk, you know? You brush past people, people bump into you. In L.A., nobody touches you. We're always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something."
Posts: 616 | Location: United Kingdom | Registered: March 26, 2008
Its an old cop trick for beating the crap out of someone and leaving few marks.
I think the question was more of an insinuation that the phonebook was unnecessary and that only the bat was required before bludgeoning the candidate and the mop and bucket after to pick up the detritus.
nail on the head. _______________________________________________
"It's the sense of touch. In any real city, you walk, you know? You brush past people, people bump into you. In L.A., nobody touches you. We're always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something."
Posts: 616 | Location: United Kingdom | Registered: March 26, 2008
Well yes I do, I think that was the point.. __________________________________________________
"It's the sense of touch. In any real city, you walk, you know? You brush past people, people bump into you. In L.A., nobody touches you. We're always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something."
Posts: 616 | Location: United Kingdom | Registered: March 26, 2008
