Life remains at risk for lovebirds due to lack of shelter

NOIDA: The twin cities of Noida and Greater Noida may be developing on the infrastructure frontier, however, love seems to be lost for those couples who have decided to oppose their families and have inter-caste or inter-community marriages. The Uttar Pradesh government doesn't seem to have any provision in place for giving safety and shelter to lovebirds in GautamBudhNagar district.
The Noida city magistrate, Sanjay Chauhan, said that each month, on an average, 20 couples opting for love marriage seek protection from the local administration. Since the girls and boys in love belong to different castes, their families either want to desert them forever or even kill them "to protect their honour."
"Even though a lot of modernity can be seen in the twin cities, the administration has been facing challenges to counter the implications of love marriages that take place without the consent of family members. In a recent case, a girl who fell in love with a boy of a different caste was locked in a room by her parents in Sector 71. She somehow managed to seek our help through an SMS. We rescued her and also provided her adequate safety. But the tough part was that we could not offer the couple a safe accommodation in Noida and referred her to an overcrowded shelter in Meerut," said Chauhan.
The city magistrate said that Noida needs to have a shelter home where the administration can house girls or boys during this time of need and also offer them adequate safety. "We face a huge challenge with each case because usually the parents become aggressive as they feel that it threatens their 'honour'," Chauhan added.
Recently, around 300 men from an influential family of Noida girl thronged a Gautam Budh Nagar court in order to kill her as she had dared to tie the knot with a boy of a different caste.
"Presence of such a large number of people in court triggered panic among the administration and police because the challenge was to safely take both the boy and girl to a safe place. Had Noida been equipped with a proper shelter home and other facilities, the task would have been easier," said a senior police officer. "If a shelter is not created soon, then honour killing cases would rise manifold in Noida," added the officer.