“I thought the maximum they’d do is break all ties with us. Bhawna always told me how much her father [property dealer and Congress party worker] loved her, I still can’t believe they can go to this extent,” says Abhishek. Bhawna’s friend, who has known her since school, says she had warned her against going back to her home after marrying Abhishek. “Once in a conversation about an acquaintance who had married outside the community, her parents had said they’d kill Bhawna if she ever did anything like that. I had warned her against going back home,” she says, not willing to be named.