Rohtak, October 13
Sonia, who is under pressure from a khap panchayat to accept her husband as her brother, now faces the dreaded prospect of losing her most prized possession – her unborn child. She was rushed to the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences here in the wee hours of the morning today with a threatened abortion. But, she has not lost any of her courage or resolve.
Barely able to speak from her hospital bed, a frail- looking Sonia still had the guts to declare: “I will not accept the panchayat verdict. If it withdraws its dictat, it’s okay. If it doesn’t, I am going to live with my husband in Asanda itself anyway. Let them cut me to pieces if that is what they want.”
Sonia developed labour-like pains around midnight last night. She was admitted to the PGIMS here at 1.30 a.m. Dr Pushpa Dahiya, who is attending on her, said though Sonia had a history of abortions in the past, the current problem could have been caused by emotional and mental stress. Sonia would need hospitalisation for a few more days, she said, adding that she was under constant observation and every effort was being made to save the pregnancy from being aborted.
However, her medical problem had a positive side too. Her husband, Rampal, who had been cowering under the panchayat pressure in his village so far, gathered the courage to come here and be by his wife’s side despite the panchayat directive not to meet her. Some of Sonia’s courage appeared to have rubbed off on to him. He told The Tribune that he would fight it out. “I don’t want to yield to panchayat pressure. I had been under tremendous pressure from the panchayat. But see, I am here though they warned me not to see Sonia anymore”.
Sonia said when she pleaded with the panchayat representatives on Sunday that she was pregnant, they had suggested that she abort the pregnancy. “I hope and pray their wishes won’t come true. With God’s grace, my child will live to see me living in Asanda despite what the panchayat has done”, she said.
Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner of Jhajjar Mohinder Kumar said the administration would act as per law only after it received a formal complaint.
