Rohtak family murder – Gay son was forced to ‘un-become’ who he is

From gang rapes to murders it’s a common occurrence in Rohtak. Law and order are just at stake. The city is headlining for all wrong reasons. Recent family murder is shocking.

Rohtak-based property dealer Pradeep, his wife Babli, daughter Tamanna alias Neha and mother-in-law Roshni were brutally murdered by their son Abhishek who is in his 20s. We all need to retrospect from were these young guys are gathering the courage to commit the brutal crimes?

Abhishek, the one son of Pradeep and Babli who was pursuing a cabin-crew course from Delhi was in a homosexual relationship with one of his classmates.

This was unacceptable to Abhishek’s parents who wanted him to discontinue his relationship. On the other hand, Abhishek was adamant about continuing the relationship and wanted to live with his companion.

This is not the first incidence that LGBT children are forced to ‘un-become’ who they are by ‘concerned’ parents, and this won’t be the last.

Although the Supreme Court decriminalized consensually homosexual sex under Section 377 in 2018 and the Indian Psychiatric Society said homosexuality was not a mental disorder, those sentiments have not oozed to most Indian homes. Abhishek alias Monu’s parents nagging and non-acceptance towards his sexual orientation started irritating him. He was in fear of losing his partner too.

His urge was to go for sex transitions, somehow, he demanded money from his parents, but they not only refused but also humiliated him for what he is. Eventually, there was anger, discomfort and disturbance in the family. The only son, that to born in an orthodox family, revealing that he is not comfortable with his body changed many equations in the family.

Abhishek was madly in love; he has the name of his companion tattooed on his chest. Abhishek’s companion had come to Rohtak to meet him before the murders took place. He was staying at a hotel where Abhishek had met him before as well as after the murders.

The murders took place on August 27 and Abhishek was arrested on August 31. Abhishek’s deceased father owned a pistol, which became the murder weapon. After having shot his parents, Abhishek went to meet his friend at the hotel. Then he returned home and acted shocked and devastated on seeing the bodies lying in a pool of blood.

It was 10.30 am on August 27. Like any other day, Abhishek finished breakfast with his family, including his father mother, and maternal grandmother, while his younger sister, Neha (19), slept in her room upstairs of their house. After breakfast, he slipped into his sister’s room, turned on the television and fired a shot at her head from a pistol his father would keep in the TV drawer, unleashing a chain of murders.

After shooting at his sister, the 20-year-old locked her room, went downstairs, and invited his grandmother, Roshni Devi (70), to his room on the pretext of playing the guitar for her. As soon as she entered the room, he shot her in the temple. The bullet penetrated her and struck the opposite wall, killing her instantly. Then he came downstairs and acted as if nothing had happened. Five minutes later, when his mother, Santosh enquired about the septuagenarian, he simply gestured towards the second floor with his hand. He watched as his mother ascended the stairs before following her into the room where Roshni Devi lay dead in a pool of blood. He then drew a revolver and fired at her too.

After locking the door, Abhishek came downstairs where Pradeep, his father and a property dealer, was resting on the charpoy, oblivious of what had happened. Abhishek sat next to him with a cushion on his lap, drew his revolver from beneath him and shot his father thrice in the face.

Abhishek had used his father’s revolver to eliminate his family after they opposed his same-sex relationship and his plan to undergo a gender-change surgery.

Abhishek was arrested on September 2, five days after the incident. His parents loved him a lot and gave him everything he wanted, but that was not all that he wished for himself. The boy had stayed in a hotel before and after executing the crime. Abhishek had informed his maternal uncle, who lives nearby, that door of his house was locked and nobody was answering the bell. The uncle had asked him to break open the door.

Next, he told his maternal uncle that some miscreants had shot at his family members and that he was rushing his sister to PGIMS. Police got suspicious about his role as he was changing his statements continuously. Well! The family is eliminated and the boy has been destroyed his entire life. No one has benefitted from the entire saga. The question that comes here is of acceptance. Neither boy was accepting the fact that his parents want him to believe and his parents were in denial about his sexual orientation. Gradually all this ended with a cruel twist. Who is responsible, just in retrospect.

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