Man stabbed to death on street in Hyd over intercaste marriage

NEERAJ P, MEMBER OF THE MARWADI COMMUNITY, MARRIED SANJANA FROM THE YADAV COMMUNITY LAST YEAR IN A TEMPLE AGAINST HER FAMILY’S WISHES

HYDERABAD: Four persons were arrested in Hyderabad for allegedly stabbing a 21-year-old man to death for marrying outside his caste, police said on Saturday.

The incident took place in the busy Begum Bazar area on Friday night, when Neeraj P, who ran a shop, was leaving for home with his father Jagdeesh on his bike. Four men attacked them with knives and sickles.

“Neeraj was stabbed and he died in a local hospital,” a police officer said.

Neeraj, a member of the Marwadi community, married Sanjana, who was from the Yadav community, last year in a temple against the wishes of her family, police said. The couple has a three-month-old toddler.

In the police complaint, Sanjana alleged her cousins played a role in the killing, based on their earlier death threats.

Neeraj’s father Jagdeesh, too, said he had approached Afzal Gunj police about the threats earlier in January.

Based on the market’s CCTV footage, police arrested four men. “The investigation is proceeding,” said Y Ajay Kumar, station house officer of Shahinayatgunj police station.

Begum Bazar traders shut shops and staged a protest outside the police station.

The incident comes days after a 25-year-old Hindu man, who married a Muslim woman, was killed by his wife’s brother in Hyderabad. The incident took place at Panjala Anil Kumar Colony of Saroornagar on May 4 when the accused attacked the bike-borne couple with an iron rod and then stabbed the man.

Billipuram Nagaraju belonged to SC-Mala community and his wife Syed Ashrin Sultana got married in January this year.

BHOPAL: A 65-year-old man was found dead in Madhya Pradesh’s Neemuch district and a case of murder was registered after a video purportedly showed a man slapping the old man repeatedly and asking whether he was a Muslim, police said on Saturday.

Bhawarlal Jain of Sarsi village in Ratlam district was found dead on Friday under the jurisdiction of Manasa police station.

“After performing the last rites of the deceased, his family members came to know about the purported video and informed police about it,” said KL Dangi, the officer in-charge of the precinct.

On Saturday, a case was registered against two suspects under sections 302 (murder) and 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code, police said.

The 59-second video that went viral on social media purportedly shows the accused — identified as Dinesh Kushwaha, the husband of a former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) corporator — slapping the victim repeatedly while asking for his Aadhaar card, Dangi said.

The accused was heard asking the mentally ill man if his name was Mohammed, and later started slapping him repeatedly while asking for his Aadhaar card, he added.

Later in the day, Kushwaha surrendered and was questioned at Manasa police station. He was arrested after questioning, said a senior officer. The second accused is yet to be identified.

HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the video.

“The victim had gone to Chittorgarh (in Rajasthan) with his family. He went missing on May 16. On Thursday, he was found dead in Manasa area of Neemuch district,” said Dangi. “We are examining the video. Strict action will also be taken against the accused.”

The opposition Congress attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party administration over the deteriorating law-and-order situation in Madhya Pradesh.

“What is happening in Madhya Pradesh after all? Tribals were lynched in Seoni, incidents of Guna, Mhow, Mandla and now an elderly person whose name is said to be Bhanwarlal Jain in Manasa of Neemuch district of the state,” state Congress chief Kamal Nath tweeted.

“In MP, there is no law and order and a man was beaten to death just for not showing his Aadhaar Card. After Muslim, Dalit and Tribal, now a Jain was attacked. In MP, nobody is safe...,” said Congress legislator Jitu Patwari.