STUDENTS LAUNCH CAMPAIGN AGAINST HATE CRIME

MEERUT : Classmates of Tanya Chaudhary, the 18-year-old who was allegedly murdered by her cousin on February 16 in front of her parents over her affair, initiated ‘War against hate crime’ campaign. Her friends and classmates are using social media and organising candle marches to spread Tanya’s story and prevent such crimes against young girls and women. Anam Saifi, an undergraduate student and one of the founding members of the campaign, said, “Tanya was brutally murdered by her kin over affair. She was an adult and she had the right to choose her partner.” She said,”So many girls are killed like this in our society by their own family and nobody cares. We have started the campaign to spread Tanya’s story. People should know that our friend was murdered just because she fell in love with someone. They need to understand that this is not right.” At present around 70 members have joined the campaign including 30 young girls. They carried out a candle March on February 19 in Kankarkheda area against the heinous crime that took place in Sardhana area of Meerut district. Anam along with her four friends, Nikita Pal, Nisha Swami, Garima Chauhan and Pragya Masih, started the campaign after they heard about their classmate’s murder. “While we were in school, Tanya always talked about how she was discriminated on grounds of her gender in her family. She often mentioned that her cousin threatens to kill her a number of times”, said Nisha Swami. “But we never knew that he would actually kill her,” she added. Anam said, “Our parents want us to be safe and not get into any trouble but at the same time, they understand the seriousness of the issue and they know that somebody has to come forward to prevent such things. That is why, they support us and have even joined the campaign.”