“Save Me” Gujrat’s Woman desperate text to Boyfriend before Alleged murder by family
A tragic case from Gujrat has left the state in shock. On June 24, 18-year-old Chandrika Chaudhary was an NEET aspirant from Tharad, Banaskantha, and sent a message to her boyfriend begging him to save her.
“Please come and save me; otherwise my family will get me married forcefully. If I refuse to marry, they will kill me. Save me,”
she wrote. Her father and uncle allegedly killed her just hours later.
Chandrika was in love with Harish Chaudhary-a married man who lived separately from his wife. The two even stayed together in a live-in relationship when Chandrika was put up in a private hostel in Palanpur. Her family didn’t accept the relationship, and Chandrika had frequently mentioned that she lived in fear of losing her life.
Murder Masked Under Suicide
On the night of June 24, Chandrika’s father Sedhabhai Patel and uncle Shivabhai Patel allegedly gave her sleeping pills and strangled her to death at their home in Dantia, Tharad. Initially, the incident appeared to be a suicide, but Harish lodged a police complaint.
During the investigation, the police found the duo had cremated her body to destroy the evidence. While the Uncle has been arrested and confessed the crime, Chandrika’s father is on the run.
Family Honour at the Risk of Life
According to police reports, the purported motive was that Chandrika’s family was against her relationship and was planning to marry her to another. The last chilling message she sent is now a stark reminder of just how dangerous it is for women to escape forced marriages and other restrictions imposed on them by families.
The Case has sparked outrage among Women’s right groups, who are demanding stronger mechanisms to act to these type of messages and prevent such tragedies in future