Father sent to custody for 'honour' killing

NASHIK: A city court here remanded Eknath Kumbharkar to seven day police custody till July 5 in connection with the murder of his 18-year-old pregnant daughter. Kumbharkar allegedly strangulated his daughter to death for marrying a person outside their caste.
The Sarkarwada police said that there was nothing to recover in the murder case as the accused was caught along with the nylon rope with the help of which he strangulated his daughter, Pramila Kamble, on Friday morning.The police custody will be useful in investigating the exact reason behind the murder of his daughter who was nine months' pregnant, the police said.
According to the police, Kumbharkar woke up early on Friday morning and hired a rickshaw to his daughter's place at Mahatma Nagar near Suyojit Lawns. He asked her to come along and when they reached near Joshiwada behind KTHM College, he asked the rickshaw driver to call his brother-in-law staying nearby. When the driver left, he strangulated Pramila. The victim was murdered at around 7.30 am.
The police said that the victim was immediately rushed to the civil hospital by the rickshaw driver, where she was declared dead on admission. Meanwhile, the police rushed to the Joshiwada area, where the murder took place and with the help of the rickshaw driver identified him. He was arrested in half an hour.
About one and a half years back, the girl had married Deepak Kamble of another caste and against the wishes of her father. Furious with the same, Kumbharkar was apparently looking for an opportunity to kill her, the police said.
Awareness necessary, say activists
Meanwhile, various people from the city were of the view that people got inspired from wrong things and Friday's incident should not serve as a trigger to start the heinous trend. Mishra Vivah Chalwal, Nashik has decided to organise a sit-in agitation in front of the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Statue on Shivaji Road on July 7.
Jeetendra Bhave of the Chalwal said that though the government was promoting inter-caste marriage and also giving Rs 50,000 to start life afresh, the ground reality was extremely difficult.
Bhave said that it was necessary to protect and give shelter to inter-caste marriage couples. The police should also keep a record of such couples with them. He said that the law on inter-caste marriage should be implemented in true spirit.
Bhave alleged that in many cases it took nearly two years to get the money. Further, the groom in an inter-caste marriage had to ensure that he approached the police station immediately to inform the police that the girl was a major and it was not a case of kidnapping. Many times the girl's parents charge the groom with kidnapping.
Apart from the difficulties at the government department levels, it was necessary to spread awareness among people about inter-caste marriage. For this purpose, the organisation would start conducting street plays, workshops in schools and colleges by the Andhashraddha Nirmulan Kendra.
Deepali Mankar of the women's and child assistance cell said that such an incident has been reported after many years. She said that in Nashik, in many cases, it is seen that the parents cut relations with their ward. "Parents should lay emphasis on checking if a boy or girl is a good match for their ward than laying stress on the caste," said Mankar.
MLC Jayant Jadhav said that he would see how it the issue can be tackled at the government level.