Video Editor: Kunal Mehra
Camera: Athar Rather
Camera Asst: Zubair Lone
Sumit, who had an interfaith marriage, told us when asked about his reaction to Ankit Saxena’s murder. The family had slit his throat because he fell in love with their daughter, Shehzadi.
A 23-year-old boy was forced to pay the price for being in a relationship with a girl of a different religion. In India, interfaith and inter-caste relationships are fraught with many dangers. Many couples have had to pay the price of falling in love.
Ankit Saxena’s news broke our hearts. It shook us. How I loved Azra was as innocent as Ankit’s love for Shehzadi. This is a blow to interfaith couples and marriages. It has created a sense of insecurity for us and maybe even for those who are in interfaith relationships.
But there are many cases that go unreported.
Sumit and Azra welcome us into their one-bedroom rented accommodation. A wooden plaque hanging on the wall says Sumit & Azra. Their house is a tiny world consisting only of bare essentials.
Sumit is from Haryana and Azra from Delhi 6. Their paths crossed on the first day of their political science class in Zakir Hussain College, Delhi University.
“We became friends. She completed all my assignments”
“I liked his way of thinking”
They both had a common friend circle and used to hang out with each other. In 2010, Sumit and Azra were coming back from the annual trade fair in Pragati Maidan.
In the following months, the two travelled around Delhi, falling in love as they discovered new corners.
“Initially, we didn’t think of getting married. We knew things would get complicated. We did try to end things, but realised it was too hard for us,” Azra said, telling us about the difficulties they faced in their relationship.
In the final year of college, the two decided to tell their parents about each other.
Azra's family were very strict though.
After several attempts to convince Azra’s family, the two were worried that Azra’s parents would get her married or send her off to some village. Being political science students, they knew about the Special Marriage Act. In order to avoid religious conversion, they got married under the law on 22 June 2016.
Post their marriage, Azra’s family only had one demand – Sumit should convert to Islam. “I felt bad. For Sumit and I, religion wasn’t important. Our feelings were more important...” Azra stopped midway as tears started welling up in her eyes. Her family still hasn’t accept their marriage.
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