Sahil Khan is still in shock and yet to come to terms with what happened to him on Monday afternoon. He has injury marks and bruises all over the body.
“We [the couple] were sitting in the advocate’s chamber at a Ghaziabad court. The advocate was preparing the documents we needed to submit before the marriage registrar when, all of sudden, a mob of 30-35 people barged into the chamber and started thrashing me. I was dragged, punched, kicked and abused in full public view but no one intervened. My cries went unheard,” said Sahil.
Live-in relationship
“I was pulled out of the cab [later] and thrashed by the mob once again. They also damaged the cab. I thought they were going to kill me,” he said.
Sahil said he had met the woman four years ago through a common friend. They fell in love and started living together.
“We were in a live-in relation for the last four years. My landlord was aware of this and did not have any issues with it. After being together for a long time, we decided to get married as our parents did not approve of our relationship,” said Sahil. “We tried to persuade our parents but they were against it as we belong to different communities. Last week, I contacted a lawyer at Surajpur court. He asked for ₹12,000 and promised to finish the marriage registration process in a day. We were asked to reach the marriage registrar’s office at a Ghaziabad court,” he added.
Sahil’s relatives were informed about the incident by the police and asked to come at the earliest. The family was escorted by the police till the New Delhi railway station.
‘Separated’
“I never faced any problem because of my religion while we were together. I was fearless. We are adults and can take our own decisions. I never imagined this would happen to me. But we have been separated by our families now. I will go home [Bhopal]. Our mobile phones were also snatched and damaged by the mob... I am devastated that I will never see her again,” the 26-year-old said.