India: Young couple killed on orders of village council

A young couple were beaten to death, their bodies hacked to pieces and burned on the orders of a village council in northern India that called their relationship incestuous, news reports said today.

Mahesh, 20 and his girlfriend Gudia, 19, had lived in neighbouring villages near the northern Indian city of Agra, 160 miles south-east of New Delhi, and fled their homes when their relationship was discovered.

Their families tracked them down and took them home where a village council was called, The Hindustan Times newspaper reported.

The council or “panchayat” of Naharra village told the couple to end what they said was an incestuous relationship.

When Mahesh and Gudia, who go by just one name, refused to separate, the council ordered their killing, the report added.

The couple were beaten to death by a mob on Tuesday and their bodies were dismembered and set on fire, the report said. It was not immediately clear how the two were related.