Main hawaaon ki tarah hoon; main behna chaahti hoon; behte rehna chahti hoon: A heart-wrenching video that surfaced on social media made everyone emotional. 23-year old Ayesha Makrani shot a video on Thursday with a big smile on her face before taking her life by jumping into the Sabarmati river.
Enough efforts were made by the swimmers of the Ahmedabad Fire and Emergency service department to rescue her. They rushed her immediately to the SVP hospital in Ellisbridge but Makrani was declared dead there.
The police have registered an abetment to suicide case against her husband Arif Khan Gafurji, a resident of Jalore district of Rajasthan.
In the initial part of the video, the deceased assets that she is taking this extreme step with her own will and no one was to blame for her death. However, as the video progresses, the agony can be felt in her eyes and the reason behind this extreme step also becomes clearer.
As per the FIR lodged by Ayesha’s father with Sabarmati Riverfront (West Police), Ayesha and Arif got married on July 6, 2018. Within a few days, Arif and his family started harassing her for the dowry.
Distressed over the continuous harassment, Ayesha returned to her parents’ home on December 5, 2018. After about a month, Ayesha returned to her husband’s place following the intervention of some community leaders. Her father, Liyakatali further stated, “Neither Arif nor his relatives mended their ways. They showed Ayesha no mercy and kept harassing her. Soon, she returned to Ahmedabad again on July 21, 2019.”
Later, on January 26, 2020, Arif allegedly came to Ayesha’s place and asked for Rs 1.5 lakh. Arif took her back to his home. But again abandoned her in March 2020.
Ayesha lodged a domestic violence complaint with Vatva police against him after he allegedly thrashed and harassed her constantly. Ayesha joined a private insurance firm. But she was constantly harassed and threatened by Arif to withdraw the charges.
In Ayesha’s last video, she said
“Hello Assalamo Alayekkum, my name is Ayesha Arif Khan. Whatever I am about to do now is just my decision. No one has pressured me. What should I say? Just believe that the life given by the Almighty was this short.
What life I lived has been very peaceful due to the grace of the Almighty. (Laughs) Dear Dad, how long will you fight with near and dear ones? Let us withdraw the case. I don’t want to do this. Ayesha was not born to fight.
I love Arif, and will not harass him unnecessarily. If he wants freedom, then it is alright, he can live with his own freedom… my life was this much only.
I am happy that I will meet Allah. I will ask him what was my fault (tears filling her eyes). I got very good parents; I have also got very good friends. Perhaps, somewhere I made some mistake or there was some problem with my destiny. I want to go peacefully. I pray to Allah that he will never make me see the faces of humans again.
I want to tell you something… if love happens then it should be both ways, it must not be one-sided. Sometimes love remains half even after marriage.
This lovely river… I pray that she absorbs me inside her. Please do not make any hue and cry after I leave. I am like the wind; I want to keep flowing, I will not stop for anybody. I am happy that I got answers for all my questions. I have told the truth to all concerned persons. Please remember me in your prayers. Don’t know if I get a place in Jannat (heaven) or not. So, goodbye.”
She had also called her parents to inform them that she is jumping into the river. During her call, she said that nothing is going to be like it was earlier. Ayesha told that her life had been ruined and she could not bear the pain. She informed that she tried to contact Arif to settle the issue but he told her that he wanted to get rid of her and told her to shoot a video before committing suicide.
On the call, her father can be heard pleading with her to give them one last chance. He promised to go to Jalore and settle the issue. Liyakatali also told her, “For Quran-e-Shareef’s sake, for almighty Allah’s sake, please do not do that.” He told that he would send his son to take her, and Ayesha agreed. However, a while later an unknown person called him saying that she had jumped into the river.
