Death VS Honour: Love a crime in Kerala?
Looking at the treatment meted out to lovers in Kerala, it looks like people care about honour, prestige, caste, religion and financial status more than life itself.
FollowLooking at the treatment meted out to lovers in Kerala, it looks like people care about honour, prestige, caste, religion and financial status more than life itself. There is no partiality, as these unwritten rules are haunting every lover irrespective of the fact of being educated or not. So, today its only about money and status which is having an upper hand and the alleged murders of Kevin, Athira, alleged suicides of Kamal and Aswathy are some of the recent examples of the seriousness of the 'rules' over lives.
It looks like love is a crime in Kerala, as couple that got married against the wishes of parents also failed in proving a point as well as those who committed suicide in fear of getting separated from each other. In the case of Kevin, family status played a significant role as he was a Dalit Christian in love with a girl from an affluent family. The result was that the couple got married but the boy was found dead floating on the river, just three days after the wedding. Allegedly parents and brother of the girl are responsible for the death of Kevin.
In another case, college students Kamal and Aswathi eloped and kept running for two days and tried to give their relationship a chance as both their parents were determined to separate the couple. After running for two days and not finding any help and hope to survive the backlash the couple jumped off the Sasi Park in Kanjirakolly.
To add to this list, in March there was a report of a working woman Athira allegedly getting killed by her father as she was about to get married to her Dalit friend and they were not happy with the development.
The state with complete literacy and advanced steps like first reception announced by the Kerala government for India's first legally married transgender couple there is still a need for a massive change of mindset when it comes to accepting relationships irrespective of caste, religion, status and prestige.
