Binita Duwadi and Bhim Bahadur Bishwakarma from Dhading fell in love and got married. The only problem: they belonged to different castes. Binita’s family disowned her and threatened to kill her for marrying a Dalit boy. The young couple then moved to Kathmandu and remained ‘underground’ for their safety. Last Sunday Binita was abducted from her college. Excerpts from Binita’s diary which was found during police investigation:
I was studying in 11th eleventh grade at Sidheshwor High School in Dhading when I first met Bhim. We became quick friends and fell deeply in love. Life felt complete with Bhim by my side. But my family came to know about our relationship and my world came crashing down.
They couldn’t accept the fact that I was in love with a Dalit, someone they considered inferior to our caste. My relationship with Bhim supposedly brought shame to our “high caste” family and they threatened to kill me if I didn’t bow down to their wishes. But how could I leave the love of my life for the sake of my family’s honour? That too for something as superficial and outdated as the caste system. To me all that mattered was that Bhim was a hard-working man and he loved me. I never thought my educated family would stoop so low. They threatened to kill us and even said I should commit suicide rather than be with someone who did not have their consent. When I refused, they planned to get me married to a high-caste boy.
So last month I left home and eloped to Kathmandu with Bhim. But even here the torment didn’t end. The police arrested Bhim’s mother and younger brother after my family alleged them of kidnapping me. When I told the police about my decision to marry Bhim they pressurised me to change my statement. I stood my ground. My brother handed me a packet of poison and said I would be better off dead.
In the days that followed my family continued to torture me, sending goons who made threats to kill us. So once again we had to change location and go underground. Recently I came to find out that my parents are trying to find a husband for me from our caste and have even agreed to give him Rs 400,000.
Am I a doll to be bought and sold in the market? Is it really such a big crime in this country to fall in love with someone from the ‘wrong’ caste? And what does it say about our society that tries to separate two people in love? I still stand by my decision and have embraced my new world with Bhim happily. I hope my family will accept us , if not I sincerely hope that they stop bothering us and let us live peacefully.