In a recent incident, a teenage girl from Uttar Pradesh was allegedly beaten to death by members of her extended family for wearing jeans, BBC reported.
The grandfather and uncles of the 17-year-old Neha Paswan, a resident of the Savreji Kharg village of the state's Deoria district, had beaten the girl with sticks, leading to her death. Her body had been found hanging from the bridge over the locally-flowing Gandak river, the morning after the assault, BBC reported.
The late teenager's mother, Shakuntala Devi Paswan, told the BBC that the beating had been spurred by an argument that had previously broken out in their home over the girl's clothes.
"She had kept a day-long religious fast. In the evening, she put on a pair of jeans and a top and performed her rituals. When her grandparents objected to her attire, Neha retorted that jeans were made to be worn and that she would wear it," Shakuntala Devi Paswan told BBC, adding that the squabble had then turned violent.
The girl's grandparents had then taken her away in an auto rickshaw, saying that they were going to the hospital. Her body had been retrieved from the bridge on the subsequent day.
The police has filed a case of murder and destruction of evidence against 10 persons, including Neha's grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and the auto driver.
According to a report by Times of India, the girl’s grandfather and the auto driver, Hasnain, were arrested on Tuesday, 27 July, while her uncles are on the run.
(With inputs from BBC)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)