Inter-faith sweethearts opt to die together than live apart

MITHI:

A young man and a girl died by suicide after jumping into a well in their village in Nagarparkar.

The two wanted to get married but the families were against the inter-faith marriage.

The bodies of 20-year-old Asif Ali, a Muslim, and 17-year-old Durga, a Hindu, were discovered after locals reported discovering shoes and other items lying near a well in the Surachand village. Police along with people pulled the two bodies out of the well. They were found with one hand clasping the other's hand, and a rope tied over it.

Police said a letter was found from the belongings found outside the well. It contained a letter, believed to be from the couple, which said that they had made a suicide pact and requested the police not to disturb their relatives after the incident. The families identified the bodies. The police took the bodies for post-mortem at the local hospital and then handed them to the heirs.

Surachand is a small village of approximately 150 households, split almost equally between Hindus and Muslims who live side by side.

This is the second such incident reported from the district in the last two months. Last month, two teenager sweethearts of the Hindu community took their lives after their families refused to the marriage.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 18^th, 2023.