After honour killing, 'honour selling' emerges

New Delhi, Jul 15: After several cases of 'honour killing', now a case of 'honour selling' has emerged. An Agra girl, who was in love with a boy from a different caste, was married against her wishes not once but twice by her mother in exchange of money.

21-year-old Arti was in love with Shankar, a boy from her neighbourhood. However, their relationship was not acceptable to Arti's mother as the boy was from a different caste, reported MiD-Day.

The mother, Laxmi, quickly jumped to the rescue of the family 'honour' by getting Arti married off to a man called Jagdish in 2007. The mother allegedly took money from Jagadish's family.

When things did not work out well with Jagdish, Arti returned home complaining of dowry harassment and physical abuse. Laxmi stepped up as a supportive mother and helped her daughter get a divorce.

However, this was not the happy ending. Laxmi allegedly started looking for another man who would pay money for her daughter's hand in marriage. She reportedly found a boy in Sobipura village of Firozabad district who was ready to pay her Rs 20,000.

Arti revolted against this and turned to her childhood friend and lover, Shankar, for help. The couple wrote to Agra Superintendent of Police, DIG and the local police station in Jun 2010, but found no action from their side, the tabloid reported.

It all came down to Sanjay to rescue Arti as he did not want he to take any extreme steps. Now, his case has been taken up by Love Commando, a community that was set by by a Delhi-based activist to protect young lovers from 'killer' panchayats.

Hope for Sanjay and Arti seem to be arising as petitions to the National Commission for Women and National Human Rights Commission are set to be filed on behalf of Sanjay.

OneIndia News