Delhi, July 14: Though many like her were killed for family honour, her case is unique or say even worse.
Arti, 21, has been married twice by her widowed mother and it was not just the honour of their family that was on Laxmi Devi’s mind.
The Agra girl loved Sanjay who lived in the same area and was a childhood friend. But since he belonged to a different caste, Laxmi got her married to a boy named Jagdish on March 5, 2007, against her wish.
Allegedly, she took money from Jagdish’s family to marry her daughter but things took a turn for the worse when Arti returned home after spending a month with her husband, alleging torture for dowry.
She also claimed that her husband used to brutally beat her. But her mother, to her surprise, supported her and helped her to get a divorce from Jagdish.
Little did Arti know that her mother was planning to put her on sale yet again. She revolted when she came to know that her mother had set her match with another boy in Sobipura village of Firozabad district for which she got Rs 20,000.
An enraged Arti, with the help of Sanjay, wrote to the Agra superintendent of police, DIG and the local police station on June 18, 2010, seeking help. In her complaint, a copy of which is with MiD DAY, she alleged that her mother was trying to sell her off and threatening to kill her.
However, the police failed to act and Arti was finally married on June 24.
In dire need of help to rescue his love, Sanjay contacted after reading about the initiative against honour killings. He claimed that Arti must be rescued, as she has been forcefully married and she might take some extreme step.
Sanjay’s case was taken up with Love Commando and petitions to the National Commission for Women and National Human Rights Commission are going to be filed on his behalf.
-Agencies