India woman, 21, 'marries' boyfriend's corpse, accuses family of killing him due to caste differences

A woman in India who married her boyfriend's corpse has accused her family of an honour killing.

News18 reported that while preparations for her boyfriend's final rites were underway, she arrived at his residence.

Symbolic marriage ritual

The woman, Aanchal Mamidwar, then declared her intent to marry her boyfriend, Saksham Tate, despite his death.

Aanchal performed the symbolic marriage ritual by applying turmeric and vermilion to his body.

At the time of Saksham's death, the couple had planned to get married in a month and had already begun informal preparations.

Aanchal also spoke about his death in a video posted online.

Died

This comes after a confrontation on Nov. 27, 2025 when Saksham, 25, was with his friends.

The Times of India reported that, according to police, Saksham was allegedly attacked by Aanchal's brothers, Himesh Mamidwar and Sahil Mamidwar, her father, Ganesh (or Gajanan) Mamidwar and three others.

They are said to have fired gunshots at him and smashed his head with a stone slab, which killed him on the spot.

Relationship

Before his death, the woman, Aanchal Mamidwar and her boyfriend, Saksham Tate, had been in a relationship for three years.

According to News18, Saksham was on bail after being released from jail before he died.

Police sources stated that both Saksham and Himesh had criminal backgrounds.

Saksham was known to Aanchal’s family as he was a close friend of her brother Himesh.

Violently opposed

However, her family strongly opposed the relationship.

This is because both families were from different religions, according to Times of India.

Accused family

In addition, Aanchal accused her family of plotting Saksham's death in advance.

The Hindustan Times reported that Aanchal said, "My family never agreed because of caste. They said he must convert to Hinduism, he even agreed. But they only wanted a chance to kill him."

Times of India reported that she said: "My father kept telling me to end the relationship because he was a Buddhist."

"He even offered to let me marry any other man of my choice — but not Saksham. They killed him brutally, but they lost. My lover won, even in death."

Aanchal also said she wants her father and brothers to be hanged.

Cut ties

According to Times of India, she has severed all ties with her family and will live permanently with Saksham's mother.

"They cannot separate us anymore," she said.

Charged

Following Saksham's death, the police have charged six individuals.

They have been charged under sections related to murder, unlawful assembly, rioting, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which is the new criminal code of India, the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the Arms Act.

Top photos via scribe_it/X, Sin Chew Daily from punjabkesari.in