Ahmedabad: A woman stayed away from her hometown of Dholka to avoid her brother’s rage over her love marriage, which took place not one or two, but 14 years ago. Recently, she came back with her family for three days to attend a religious ceremony. That was enough. On Sunday evening, her brother — in a chilling attempt at what police suspect was an honour-driven attack — allegedly attacked her, her husband, and their 13-year-old son with a ‘dhariya’ outside their temporary residence, leaving all three bleeding. The husband and son are in critical condition with serious neck injuries.Police have filed a case of attempted murder and are searching for the accused, Rahul Vaghela, who fled after the attack.According to the FIR lodged with Dholka Town police, the couple fell in love and got married around 14 years ago. The union triggered such fierce hostility from the woman’s family that she and her husband left Dholka and spent nearly a decade in Kutch to stay out of harm’s way.They returned to Dholka just three days ago to attend a temple re-consecration ceremony at Chakleshwar Mahadev Temple. According to the FIR, Vaghela warned the family to stay away from his locality near Chikhli Talav Road. “He told us that we may live in Dholka but should not come towards their area, or he would kill us,” the woman stated in the complaint.The violent attack unfolded on Sunday evening when the family visited the temple, where a religious re-consecration ceremony was underway. After taking prasad, they returned home around 7pm. Barely half an hour later, the accused allegedly arrived at their temporary residence near Khanpur crossing, carrying a dhariya, a large blade like a machete but with a curved tip. “He began shouting that we had been warned not to return to the area, so why had we gone to the temple,” the complainant stated in the FIR.The attack was swift and brutal. According to the complaint, Vaghela allegedly struck the husband on the neck first “with the intention of killing him”. He then turned on his sister when she tried to intervene, hitting her on the head and left shoulder, the complaint stated.In a particularly disturbing turn, the accused also assaulted his own 13-year-old nephew. “He struck my son on the neck and near the ear with the weapon,” the complainant told police.All three were left bleeding heavily. When the complainant’s daughter tried to use her phone to call their employer for help, Vaghela allegedly snatched it, smashed it underfoot, and warned the family not to contact anyone.The complainant further told police that the accused kept abusing her for marrying against the family’s wishes and entering their locality despite warnings.After the accused fled the scene, the family managed to call a local farmer who alerted others. Police and an ambulance soon reached the spot and shifted the injured to a hospital in Dholka. The woman received stitches, while her husband and son suffered serious neck injuries and were critical. They were referred to Ahmedabad for further treatment.Police registered an attempted murder case and launched a search for the accused.
