‘She is as good as dead to us’: Family performs ‘shradh’ of daughter for inter-faith marriage in West Bengal

In a dramatic incident, the family of a young woman, who eloped and married a man of a different religion, performed the 'shradh' ceremony of their living daughter in Nadia district of West Bengal.

The woman’s family said the 'shradh' was conducted as she brought dishonour to the family members, and she is "dead" to them.

The ritual was performed 12 days after the woman, who is a college student, eloped with a man and married him elsewhere.

All rituals of 'shradh' were followed including tonsuring of heads.

A garlanded photo of the woman was also placed where the priest conducted the ceremony.

"She is as good as dead to us. We had arranged her marriage but she did not even want to listen to us. She brought disrepute by leaving us in this way. Enough is enough," her uncle Somnath Biswas told reporters on Sunday.

Her mother said, "We have also burnt all her personal belongings."

The family had arranged the marriage for the second-year student of a local college but she revolted. After several arguments in the family, she left home with a youth who belonged to a different religion.

The girl's father works abroad. But he extended support to the family's decision, according to Biswas.

According to news agency PTI citing sources, the woman is with her in-laws elsewhere in the Nadia district and is being counselled by psychologists.

A senior police officer said: "We came to know about the incident but can't take any action on our own as she is an adult. No complaint was filed by anyone in this regard," as per the report.