Honour killing: Victim had married her lover

Deepti Chikara, who was killed by her brother, mother and uncle for honour, had married her lover Lalit Vats. The 25-year-old engineer spared no efforts to get a missing persons’ case registered. Vats had last spoken to Deepti on phone on April 19, when her mother had seen them chatting.

Deepti Chikara, who was killed by her brother, mother and uncle for honour, had married her lover Lalit Vats. The 25-year-old engineer spared no efforts to get a missing persons’ case registered. Vats had last spoken to Deepti on phone on April 19, when her mother had seen them chatting.

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After that day, Deepti went missing. On April 23, Vats filed a complaint with the local police, which did not take the case seriously. He then emailed the police commissioner on May 18.

“After not getting any response from him either, I moved an application in the high court on June 6. After that, the FIR was registered and the police started questioning the family. Before that, they kept harassing me, saying I had kidnapped her,” he said.

When asked about his marriage, Vats said, “We got married on February 23, but Deepti wanted to convince her parents. So we decided not to live together till we got their consent. This decision proved fatal for her.”

Deepti had married another man in December 2011 under family pressure, but had left him soon to marry Vats. “After we got married, Deepti’s family and the villagers had threatened to kill us both if we started living together. Deepti also wanted to convince her parents,” he added.

Vats, who works as a data entry operator at CAG, says he fears for his life. “Deepti’s uncle is still absconding. Her family had threatened me several times,” Vats said.