Where honour matters more than life

On June 24, Kiran and Vinay were shot multiple times in Dwarka by the girl’s family. The episode left Vinay dead and Kiran recuperating in a women’s shelter. The Hindu visited their village to meet the families who shared what lies behind the murder

The sun was peaking on a summer afternoon in Gopalpur village in Sonipat. A suffocating silence prevailed; most stayed indoors. A 12-year-old boy popped up. Asked about the house of a girl whose husband had recently been killed ‘to save the honour’, the boy directed promptly: “Everyone in the village knows both the houses, of the girl and the boy, and the whole story,” he said with a rather stern face. Past a bungalow was a double-storey house with cemented exterior. Two wooden cots and chairs were laid out inside the courtyard. Sheela Dahiya had just returned after buying groceries from a nearby shop. As soon as she heard her daughter Kiran’s name, she broke into tears. Her husband Jai Bhagwan – visibly drunk – sat on a chair finding it tough to speak coherently. “I will approach Narendra Modi,” he kept repeating.