India: Three of family end life when woman elopes

Gadchiroli, Maharashtra: Shocked by a woman's decision to elope and marry a person from a lower caste, her parents and brother committed suicide in Gadchiroli, a police officer said here on Tuesday.

Hours after the news of the tragedy reached the newly-married couple on Monday, they too attempted to commit suicide by jumping into a local river, but were rescued by an alert police team, informed Gadchiroli Police Station officer Shalini Ingole.

The newly-wedded couple has been admitted to a local hospital for treatment. Their condition is reported to be stable, she said.

It all started on Saturday when the girl - Pranali Wargantivar (24) - suddenly left home without informing anybody and went straight to Markanda village in the district and got married to her beau at a local Shiv Temple on Sunday.

While the girl, a schoolteacher, belongs to an OBC caste, the boy belongs to a Scheduled Caste working for a private company. The girl's family was strongly opposed to the 'inter-caste' alliance.

When the Wargantivar family - Ravindra (52), Vaishali (45) and their son Sairam (20) - learnt of Pranali's marriage on Monday, they first stopped eating, then left their home to go for a stroll. Around a kilometre away, they came across a farm-well and jumped into it and ended their lives.

Prior to committing suicide, they informed the owner of their rented house of their intentions and disconnected the phone before he could attempt to dissuade them from taking the extreme step.

Earlier, the Wargantivars attempted to lodge a police complaint against their proposed inter-caste marriage, but both the bride and groom were adults, so no cognizance was taken.

Their bodies were recovered on Monday afternoon.

As the shocking news of the triple suicide reached the just-married couple, they consumed some chemicals and jumped into the Pohar River near Markanda in Chamorshi sub-district, but were saved in the nick of time by a police team.