Man who appeared on Aamir Khan’s khap show shot, wife says it’s honour killing

It was a death foretold. Before he was gunned down in broad daylight on November 24, Abdul Hakim, 29, who had appeared on Aamir Khan's Satyamev Jayate to speak out against khap panchayats, knew of a possible plot to eliminate him. An hour after he complained to the police about it, he was shot dead.

He is survived by his pregnant wife, Mahwish, 24, and 18-month-old daughter.

"My family did this. They have been threatening to do this since 2010, when we eloped. They said he was from a lower section of society and I could not marry him. What society orders someone's death?" said Mahwish.

After eloping in October 2010, the couple fled from their village of Adholi to Delhi, where they were provided shelter by an organisation called Love Commandos.

Sanjoy Sachdev, chairperson of Love Commandos, said he helped them appear on Satyamev Jayate. "They were a testament to the work we do, and so we forwarded their names to the show," he said.

About four months back, the couple returned from Delhi to settle down in Badhgarhi, about three kilometres from Adholi.

"We knew something was wrong, because there were some people from Mahwish's family who were waiting by the road in front of our village. We did not want trouble so we went to the police," said Hakim's brother, Yusuf, 36.

Acting on their plea, the police detained one Haroon for questioning and summoned Hakim and his brother to the police station.

"He and Yusuf identified Haroon and returned home. My husband had to go and get some medicines for me since I am due to give birth any day now. Five minutes after he left, a boy came running to the village and screamed that five men had grabbed Hakim," said Mahwish.

According to Yusuf, when he reached the main road, Hakim was lying in a pool of blood. "We saw men running away but could not chase them since we had to help Hakim. We rushed him to a hospital, but it was too late," said Yusuf.

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