Six months on, no justice

ADHAULI (BULANDSHAHR): The story of Mehwish, whose husband was murdered in November after he appeared on Aamir Khan’s television show, has been forgotten but her trauma is far from over.
Her demands, which include a government job, land, widow pension and action against the accused, have remained unchanged ever since Abdul Hakim was murdered on November 22.On Saturday, she protested outside the superintendent of police’s office in Bulandshahr. The officials, as always, promised to look into the matter. It is not just Mehwish’s quest for justice that has been repeatedly stalled. Abdul and Mehwish had been seeking help from the authorities after they eloped and got married, which earned them the wrath of the khap panchayat. Numerous letters to the National Human Rights Commission, senior police officers, the district administration and court orders, of which TOI has a copy, couldn’t prevent the murder, which was deemed natural not just by the village elders but also by police, Mehwish said .
Mehwish told reporters on Saturday that she was pressured by her husband’s killers to retract. Even police had earlier declared the death was not an honour killing but the fallout of differences between two groups. “No action was taken against the accused. I was receiving constant threats and had written to the authorities about the danger to our lives even before Abdul died. It didn’t make a difference,” she said.
While Mehwish threatened to go on a hunger strike, senior police officers claimed to have eased the tension. “She had some demands. The district magistrate will be back in town on June 5. We will arrange a meeting with him to give her what she wants,” said Ajay Kumar Sani, SP (crime).
Mehwish was not convinced. “In the two years after our marriage, we wrote 48 letters to police, the government and the district administration,” she said. On December 23, 2010, she wrote to the governor of UP. On November 5, she wrote to NHRC about a false case filed by cops, who tortured her husband’s father. On March 7, 2011, she wrote to the SSP Bulandshahr, and on June 22 she wrote to the IG (Meerut). She had asked for protection from her family as it wanted to kill her husband (TOI has copies of the letters).
Hakim, from the Fakir community, eloped with Mehwish on October 29, 2010, less than two weeks before her marriage. This invited opposition. “After realizing I had eloped, they dragged my father-in-law to the chaupal and wanted to burn him alive. On October 31, a khap panchayat ordered our killing,” she said.