In a horrific case, a Muslim girl was brutally murdered by her own relatives because she loved a Hindu Dalit youth. The man was also badly assaulted by them. After the murder, the body of the girl was quietly buried in the village burial ground, but the matter came to light after the youth’s family lodged a complaint.
The incident is from Palda village of Baghpat district in Baghpat, where the girl Sania was strangled to death on 23rd July by her relatives. The 18-year-old girl loved Sagar, a Dalit Hindu youth from the same family. But, while Sania belonged to an influential family in the village, Sagar is from a poor family, and works in a brick kiln in Himachal’s Una district.
Sagar keeps visiting his native village from his workplace, and during these visits, he met Sania, which eventually grew to a romantic relationship. They used to meet secretly in the village, as their relation was not acceptable to Sania’s family. They were also planning to elope together.
On 15th of this month, Sania went to Himachal with Sagar. After she went missing, her families launched a search operation, and reached Himachal suspecting that she has gone with her lover. They located the couple in Himachal, where they badly assaulted Sagar. They brought Sania and Sagar back to the village with them on 16th July.
They tied the couple to a tube well in a jungle near the village and thrashed them badly. After that, Sagar was let go, and Sania was brought home. However, Sagar didn’t reached home, and has been missing since then.
Sania’s relatives were not satisfied with the assault, so they proceeded to kill the girl, despite the opposition of her parents. As per reports, Sania’s uncle Matloob, cousin Sadiq, and a minor boy from the family were involved in the murder on 23 July. Two relatives from Sunna village in Muzaffarnagar district and two relatives from Asara village were also involved in the crime.
The accused persons said that after Sania was brought back, they wanted to get ger married, but she was not ready to marry anyone else, and insisted on marrying Sagar only. This angered them so much that they killed her. On the day of the crime, the minor boy held her legs, while her uncle Matloob and cousin Sadiq pressed Sania’s mouth and throat to strangle her.
Sania’a father and mother were present at the spot, and were appealing to leave her, but they didn’t listen. After the girl died, the family told the villagers that she died of TB, and buried the body at the village graveyard.
In the meanwhile, Sagar’s family lodged a complaint with the police as he was missing, after which a probe was started and the crime was exposed. The police got the body exhumed on Saturday, and sent it for post-mortem examination.
Sania’s killers have no remorse for the murder. Instead, Matloob expressed disappointment that he didn’t kill Sagar. He said that he left Sagar alive by mistake and realised this ‘mistake’ later. It would have been better if he had killed Sagar as well, he said.