Indian teenager Neha Paswan was 17 years old when she was tragically beaten to death and hung for wearing jeans last week.
According to Complex, the teenage girl was allegedly beaten to death and hung by her extended family disapproved in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India after an argument about her wearing jeans while performing her religious rituals turned violent. Neha's grandfather and uncles reportedly objected to her attire, and upon defending her choice of clothing, the 17-year-old was brutally beaten by her relatives.
"She had kept a day-long religious fast," Neha’s mother, Shakuntala Devi Paswan, said. "In the evening, she put on a pair of jeans and a top and performed her rituals. When her grandparents objected to her attire, Neha retorted that jeans were made to be worn and that she would wear it."
According to Complex, Neha's family reportedly claimed to take her to a nearby hospital, but she never arrived at one.
"They wouldn’t let me accompany them so I alerted my relatives who went to the district hospital looking for her but couldn’t find her," Shakuntala Devi Paswan told BBC.
Neha's body eventually turned up hanging from the bridge over the Gandak river, and following the tragedy, police are reportedly investigating cases of murder and destruction of evidence against 10 people, including Neha’s grandparents, uncles, cousins, aunts, and an auto rickshaw driver.
Rest in peace, Neha Paswan.
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