Indian Man Shot for Marrying Woman of Same ‘Gotra’

An Indian man identified as 25-year-old Bobby Singh, from Delhi, was allegedly shot following an argument with the relatives of his wife.

Deputy commissioner of police Anto Alphonse said that the attackers have been identified as the victim’s brothers-in-law. Bank worker Neeraj, aged 30, and 26-year-old PhD student Nitin are allegedly responsible for the attack.

Police said that they were against their marriage as they belonged to the same ‘gotra’.

A gotra is a social group that is strictly exogamous, meaning that the social norm is to marry outside of the group. According to customs, marriage within the same gotra is prohibited.

People within the gotra are regarded as siblings therefore, marriage would be thought of as taboo as it is seen as incest.

Mr Singh and the woman had met in Hastsal Village, Uttam Nagar and soon fell in love. However, the woman’s family were against the relationship as they were from the same ‘gotra’.

They tried to convince their families to accept their relationship but were unsuccessful.

Police officers explained that Bobby and his wife subsequently eloped and got married in November 2018.

Following their wedding, the couple stayed at an undisclosed location in Matiala, West Delhi after Singh’s parents eventually accepted the marriage.

At that time, the woman’s family decided to lodge a case of kidnapping against Singh.

Mr Singh and his wife’s brothers have some mutual friends. As a result, the suspects were able to find out where the couple lived.

The incident took place on May 14, 2019, when Bobby, a first-year student at a college in Delhi, was returning home.

It was 10:30 pm in the Uttam Nagar area of West Delhi when Nitin and Neeraj confronted him.

The two brothers then began to brutally beat Mr Singh. When the victim tried to escape, one of the suspects opened fire at Singh.

One of the bullets grazed his elbow but he was able to escape when one of his friends pulled up on a scooter. Bobby was taken to the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital where he was in a stable condition.

DCP Alphonse said both suspects had gone on the run and efforts were underway to arrest them.

Meanwhile, the woman has said that her family has been sending her death threats ever since she married Singh.

Marrying within the same ‘gotra’ is a taboo for many communities across North India. However, it is worse in areas by Haryana where it can become a legal issue.