On July 6 (Tuesday), a 26-year-old Hindu woman was found dumped on the Kanpur-Jhansi highway near Orai district in Uttar Pradesh, after being set on fire. The victim, who lay unattended on the highway for two and a half hours, accused her husband, Arif of the criminal act, in her statement to the police.
She confirmed that Arif, with whom she had a court marriage against the wishes of her family members around three months ago, had burnt her alive and dumped her on the highway thinking she was dead.
Uma was groaning in pain, in front of Radhe Dhaba, located on Kanpur-Jhansi highway on the outskirts of Ajnara village in Orai Tehsil in Jalaun district in Uttar Pradesh, when the eatery’s owner, Bhanu Rajput, noticed her. Rajput immediately dialled Uttar Pradesh police on its emergency service number ‘112’ and sought help. The police team, that reached the spot immediately, rushed Uma, who had sustained almost 30 per cent burn injuries, to the district hospital.
Later, CO City Santosh Kumar and City Kotwal Vinod Kumar Pandey reached the district hospital to record Uma’s statement. The Police officers said that the woman is in critical condition and she could not be questioned in detail. However, in her magisterial statement, Uma clearly accused her husband of setting her on fire.
Though Uma, who was later referred to the Medical College in Jhansi, is said to be stable, her condition still remains critical, said the police.
OpIndia speaks to the victim’s father
OpIndia got in touch with the victim’s father, Munnilal Rajak, a resident of Sesa village located in Moth Tehsil of Jhansi district in Uttar Pradesh who wept inconsolably while narrating his daughter’s ordeal.
The helpless Munnilal told OpIndia that a youth named Arif Khan, son of one Shabbir Khan, hailing from Bajaria, Orai had trapped his vulnerable daughter three months ago. Uma, who was madly in love with Arif, eloped and married him one and a half months back. She embraced Islam to marry Arif, rued Munnilal.
He further added that after his daughter eloped one and a half months ago, he had filed a kidnapping case against Arif and his family. However, Uma, who was head over heels in love with Arif, until then, testified against her father in the court of law. Since she is an adult, the court allowed her to go with Arif.
Uma cutting off all her ties with her family went on to live with the accused. The duo lived together for a few days. During this time, Uma’s family kept calling her up and explaining to her that the decision to marry Arif was completely wrong and how she would regret it in future. Meanwhile, Arif also started torturing Uma. “This compelled her to come back to us”, said the perturbed father.
Munnilal continued telling us that since they wanted Uma to forget her past and move on in life, they got her remarried to her sister’s brother-in-law, who lives in the Datia district in Madhya Pradesh. Arif, too, married another woman.
Here the father of the victim lamented that he was completely unaware that for all this while, Arif kept calling up Uma and pestering her to come back to him.
On July 5, Uma was in Jhansi to see her parents when she received a call from Arif who urged her to come and see him at a place in Orai. When Uma reached there, she saw Arif waiting for her, along with his family member. A fight ensued between Uma and Arif’s family members, who along with Arif, then tried to kill her by setting her on fire. Later, presuming that she was dead Arif and his family members dumped Uma on the highway.
The father also to OpIndia that Uma has told the police that there were few other boys also present there. Munnilal says he fears that his daughter was also sexually assaulted before being burnt alive.
Munnilal confirmed to us that police have arrested Arif and launched an investigation into the case. Worried about his daughter’s grievous health conditions and uncertain future, Munnilal said that his lives only aim is to now see his daughter’s perpetrators behind bars. “They should not be spared. Those monsters, who have inflicted this sort of unimaginable pain on my daughter should also suffer as much. This is all that a helpless father is demanding”.
VHP flags issue with Uttar Pradesh CM, demands speedy investigation
After this disturbing incident came to the fore, the Hindu outfit, Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s Kanpur unit has written a letter to UP CM Yogi Adityanath voicing concerns over the increased occurrence of cases of Grooming Jihad or Love Jihad.
विहिप कानपुर इकाई ने लव जिहाद की इस घटना के विरुद्ध कार्यवाही की मांग करते हेतु मुख्यमंत्री @myogiadityanath जी के नाम पत्र लिखकर लव जिहाद, धर्मांतरण जैसे विषयों में आई तेजी पर रोक लगाने और कार्यवाही की मांग की है। pic.twitter.com/mxPF2cRZNj
— Rakesh Pandey (@iRakeshPanday) July 8, 2021
Citing another case of love jihad that occurred in Uttar Pradesh’s Jalaun district last week, VHP asked the CM to take concrete steps to end the growing menace of Love Jihad in the state.
