‘Love jihad’ rumour: Wedding stopped in UP, Muslim couple kept overnight at police station
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The police in Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh, stopped a wedding ceremony on Tuesday and took away the couple following a phone call claiming that a Muslim man was marrying a Hindu woman after converting her, letting them go only the next day after finding that both were Muslims. The man, 39-year-old Haider Ali, has alleged that the police personnel beat him up with a leather belt and tortured him for hours at the Kasya Police Station.
The couple finally got married on Wednesday after the brother of the woman, Shabeela Khatoon, 28, arrived from Azamgarh district and told the police that if she wanted the wedding, the family had no objection.
Kasya Police Station SHO Sanjay Kumar blamed “miscreants” for spreading rumours of ‘love jihad’, and said they had let the couple go after realising both were major and of the same religion. Circle Officer (CO) Piyush Kant Rai said they acted promptly as “the atmosphere is tense and the administration is strict about such cases”.
Denying allegations of torture, Kushinagar SP Vinod Kumar Singh said several senior officers as well as the Local Intelligence Unit and some “respected locals” had arrived at the police station after hearing about the case. “It was not like the couple were brought to the police station in secret. Also, the matter was soon sorted… There was no reason to beat up anyone.”
Ali, who lost his first wife 10 years ago and works as a barber in Azamgarh, told The Indian Express, “On Tuesday afternoon, Shabeela and I got married. After the ceremony, a small party was on when a police team arrived and said there had been no nikaah. They wouldn’t listen to anything and took us to the police station around 7.30 pm. There they let the cleric go after he changed his statement and said the nikaah wasn’t final yet.”
While the watchman of Ali’s village Gurmiya in Kushinagar, Mushtaqeem Ali, admitted making the call on a tip-off by some Hindu youths, a local social activist who facilitated the wedding, Arman Khan, claimed a few Hindu Yuva Vahini members had “interrogated” the couple before the police arrived.
Ali said that at the police station, Shabeela was sent to another room and he was beaten up with a belt. “One of the policemen asked another to skin me… I tried to talk to them… When Shabeela heard me crying, she panicked. The policemen asked her about her family but she was scared. Only around 9 pm could I convince her to tell the police her brother’s number.
Her family told the police she was Muslim, and sent a photo of her Aadhaar card and even made a video call. The police personnel were polite after that, but still did not let us go. They said they would wait for her brother to arrive. I was kept in the verandah in the cold,” he said. Kushinagar is around 130 km from Azamgarh.
SHO Kumar said they let Ali and Shabeela go after she said in her brother’s presence that she did not want to go with her family and would marry Ali. “Her brother said if she wanted to get married, they did not have any objection.”
Arman Khan said Ali had approached him a week ago seeking help to get married to Shabeela. Khan was taken to the police station on Tuesday along with the cleric conducting the ceremony. Ali said Shabeela and he had known each other for “very long”, and that around a week ago, she had run away from her home in Azamgarh, and moved into his rented room.
Courtesy: indianexpress.com
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NCW chief condemns rape-murder of 4-year-old girl in Pune, calls for swift action
New Delhi (PTI): National Commission for Women (NCW) Chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar has condemned the alleged rape and murder of a four-year-old girl in Maharashtra's Pune, calling it "deeply distressing" and a "blot on humanity".
The girl was allegedly raped and killed by a 65-year-old labourer, who has a criminal record, in Bhor tehsil of Pune on Friday. The accused allegedly lured the child to a cattle enclosure on the pretext of giving her food. After raping her, he killed her by hitting her with a stone, according to police.
The accused has been arrested.
In a post on X on Saturday, Rahatkar said the incident in the Nasrapur area in Pune was heartbreaking and has shaken society.
"The brutal torture and murder of a four-year-old innocent girl in Nasrapur (Bhor, Pune) is deeply painful, heartbreaking, and shocking. It is a blot on humanity," she said.
She said Pune Rural police has arrested the accused and noted that Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar have assured strict action in the case.
Rahatkar said the NCW has taken cognisance of the matter and written to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), requesting the body to ensure necessary and prompt action.
It has also been recommended that the case be pursued under stringent provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and be closely monitored from the filing of the chargesheet to proceedings in a fast-track special court to ensure time-bound justice, she added.
Ensuring justice for the victim and stringent punishment for the accused is a collective responsibility, the NCW chairperson underlined.
In a post on X, the NCW said it has taken suo motu cognisance of the extremely "heinous" incident.
"This heinous crime causes profound pain and outrage, and it highlights serious concerns regarding the safety of young girls," it said.
Strongly condemning this grave "inhuman act", the NCW said such crimes constitute a serious violation of children's rights and raise questions about society's security system.
