Sholay, a famous Indian movie, was replayed in real life in Meerut, a city in India, where a young woman climbed an electricity tower with a high voltage and held it as a means to compel a man to marry her.
As per the reports in the Indian media, the woman, named Basanti, climbed the huge monument in a very emphatic gesture of her love and insistence that she wants to marry a man named Veeru.
This incident contrasts greatly with the famous movie scene, where the man risks his life for the woman, but in this case, the woman risks her own life for the man she wants to marry.
When the police received the information regarding the incident, they and the rescue services rushed to the spot and tried to convince Basanti to come down. But she is said to have declined, refusing to descend until her marriage with Veeru had been arranged. This resulted in some tense negotiations, with the police keeping an eye on the electricity supply in the area.
According to a report, the attempts made by the police and the rescue team failed to pacify the woman, and, accordingly, the authorities were forced to call Veeru, her partner, so that he could communicate with the woman, and finally, she could be extracted from the site safely.
As stated by the local station house officer (SHO), this couple had known each other through social networking sites for some time and wanted to get married; however, with the refusal of both sets of families owing to their different community origins, this had become a significant impediment for them.
This is thought to have been one of the reasons for her taking this drastic action. According to police officials, no final call on the issue of marriage has been reached yet. The two families have been asked to hold talks at the Daurala police station to find a peaceful solution to the issue. The woman is currently undergoing therapy to avoid similar life-threatening behaviors in the future.
