Ill. man killed pregnant daughter, son-in-law, young grandson because daughter married lower caste

[kurth]

Grandfather charged in blaze that killed 3
Caste dispute cited in Oak Forest fire
By Gerry Smith and Tina Shah | Tribune staff reporters
January 2, 2008

An Oak Forest man set a fire that killed his pregnant daughter, son-in-law and young grandson because he was upset over his daughter's marriage, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Subhash Chander, 57, told police that he resented the couple for what he considered a "cultural slight" -- that his daughter Monika Rani, 22, had married a man from a lower caste and done so without his consent, according to a court document.

Chander and his son-in-law had a strained relationship throughout his marriage to Rani, which lasted a little more than three years, said First Assistant Cook County State's Atty. Robert Milan.

"Apparently there's been trouble going on between the two of them for years," Milan said. "It's pretty clear from the defendant's own statements and other evidence that we have that he did not like his son-in-law at all."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-arson_02_bothjan02,0,7322811.story?coll=chi-ed_opinion_publiced-utl

[GCP]

1. I fucking hate this crap

I know India has a very ancient civilization, but they have to get over this caste system rubbish. :grr::banghead:

[Annces]

2. At least they have him

Now he can pay for his crime. People are sure crazy when it comes to social status.

[Stuart G]

3. Nothing has changed in 400 years,

Romeo and Juliet was written about this stupid kind of hatred. Parents hating their children's choices. Human tolerance seems to have progressed very little in some corners of society. Yet, there have been advances. We are more tolerant than before.
..Every year or two, I read about some parents, somewhere, doing what was done here. I just sit back and wonder. How stupid and insane many of us still are.

[Ineedchange]

4. New Immigrants Are More Inclined to Bring Old Hatres or Questionable Values To New Home

This is not in defense of his crime. He needs to suffer the penalties of his new home for such a crime but the book, "Growing up Untouchable in India: A Dalit Autobiography" by Vasant Moon explains why he felt compelled to commit the crime.

"The Hindu caste system, which forms the backdrop of Moon's narrative, operated on a graded, hereditary scale of purity and pollution, with Brahmans (priests) as the `purest' and Dalits as the most polluting. Along with having to engage in unwaged labor in the fields, Dalits were also relegated to work that was considered ritually unclean, such as the disposal of dead animals, upkeep of crematoria, cleaning of latrines, and tanning of leather. The latter occupations made their touch and even shadows contaminating to caste Hindus, and Dalits existed literally as `out-castes' living in the margins of villages in Indian society. Upper-caste Hindus, who were also feudal landowners or had control over land in the form of temple trusts, used Hindu scriptural justification..."

I met a young woman about 5 years ago from India who inform me that her family would have her killed if you married below her caste or if she married someone that her family did not approve. Her family would decide and arrange who she married and when she would get married. She wanted to date while living in the states but couldn't because of the caste system.

[NorthernSpy]

5. Dalits have been lynched for killing cows and eating beef...

There's nothing remotely progressive in alleging some kind of moral equivalence between humans and animals. Doing so doesn't "elevate" the animals so much as it provides additional rationales for stomping on a disadvantaged caste of humans. That's how it plays out time and time again -- whether it's Dalits getting murdered for their "crimes" against cows, or a black man in Alabama getting an absurd 102-year prison sentence for training fighting dogs.