Video before death goes viral

Apprehending that she would be killed by her own family who were opposed to her romantic relationship, a young woman, Soni, recorded a video on her mobile phone in which she clearly said that she would be eliminated by her own family.

The mobile was apparently recorded in the toilet of a moving train and the woman, looking straight into the camera, is seen saying, “My father, my brother want to kill me and that is why they are taking me back to my village. My life is in danger. I am an adult and I want to marry Imran, a man of my choice. That is why they want to kill me.”

After the video went viral on social networking, the police swung into action and Soni’s body was exhumed on Thursday from her village in Hathras district and was sent for a post-mortem, which failed to ascertain the cause of death. Forensic tests are now being conducted.

“We have lodged an FIR against six family members that includes her parents and four brothers on the basis of the video and further investigations are on,” said a senior police official in Lucknow.

The entire family is now absconding. Meanwhile on Friday, the police traced Imran and has taken him into custody. Imran admitted that he was on the same train as Soni and had filmed the video. He said that she insisted on making the video, but he never thought that her family would actually kill her.

According to a neighbour, Mohammad Shahid, Soni and her family had arrived in the village a few days ago and on last Friday, the family told villagers that Soni had died early in the morning. The family said she was unwell, but gave no specific reason for the death. She was later buried according to Islamic rites.