A 20-year-old man in Maharashtra’s Nanded was beaten, shot and had his head crushed with a stone in what police say was an honour killing carried out by the family of his girlfriend. The victim, Saksham Tate, had been in a relationship with 21-year-old Aanchal Mamidwar for nearly three years. Their relationship had long faced opposition from Aanchal’s family because the two belonged to different castes. Despite repeated threats, the couple continued to meet and planned to get married.
Police said that when Aanchal’s father and brothers discovered she was going ahead with the marriage, they attacked Tate on Thursday evening in the old Ganj area. According to investigators, Aanchal’s brother Himesh Mamidwar fired a bullet that pierced Tate’s ribs, before smashing his head with a stone or tile. Tate died on the spot. Officers said both Tate and Himesh had criminal records and had once been close friends.
As preparations began for Tate’s last rites on Friday, Aanchal arrived at his home in tears. In a deeply emotional and symbolic act, she applied turmeric on Tate’s body and put vermillion on her forehead, declaring herself his wife. She said she would live in his house for the rest of her life as their daughter-in-law. “Our love won, even in Saksham’s death, and my father and brothers lost,” she told reporters. She added that she married him because their love was “still alive”, even though he was gone.
Videos of the scene spread quickly on social media, showing Aanchal performing the rituals as family members looked on. She demanded the death penalty for her father and brothers, calling the incident a “cold-blooded murder”.
Police have registered a case against six people and arrested Aanchal’s father, Gajanan Mamidwar, and her brothers, Himesh and Sahil. The investigation is ongoing.
