In a case of love jihad from Uttar Pradesh, a court in Bareilly sentenced a doctor, Iqbal Ahmad to life imprisonment for killing his second wife, Nisha Devi, a resident of Saharanpur with the assistance of his two aides, Muhammad Yaseen and Misaryar Khan in 2021 on the basis of the testimony of his nine-year-old daughter. The minor witnessed the incident. The accused runs his clinic in Bareilly.
On October 26, 2021, the victim was discovered dead at their residence and her husband had disappeared. The dead body was taken to a nearby hospital by police. Later, the young girl revealed to the deceased’s mother and her maternal grandmother, Kaushal Devi, that her mother had been murdered by her father. Her assertion was substantiated by the autopsy report, which disclosed that Nisha had been strangled to death.
Kaushal Devi had earlier said that her daughter was being harassed at the hands of the culprit.
The perpetrator had married Nisha Devi about a decade prior by feigning to be a Hindu. “As per the files, Nisha and Iqbal had a love marriage after the latter introduced himself as ‘Dr Raju Sharma’. The wedding was solemnised in Saharanpur as per Hindu rituals. The couple then started staying in Saharanpur,” informed Sachin Jaiswal, additional district government counsel (ADGC).
He was already married but kept it a secret from her. “Nisha came to know about her husband’s identity when they moved to Meerganj in Bareilly. ‘Raju’ was actually Iqbal and he was already married. The accused then started putting pressure on her to embrace Islam, which she refused. Later she was found murdered,” he stated. His first wife and kids live in Jafarpur.
“An FIR was registered under IPC sections 302 (murder) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) along with Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Act against Iqbal and unidentified persons on the complaint of Nisha’s mother on October 28, 2021,” he mentioned.
The official added, “He was arrested three months later. During the investigation, police found that he killed Nisha with the help of his brother-in-law Mohd Yaseen and aide Misaryar Khan alias Mishra.”
Since the marriage was solemnised before the anti-conversion Act came into effect, portions of the Act were dropped when the police filed a chargesheet against the three accused in April 2022. “The statement of the nine-year-old daughter, who studies in class III, played a pivotal role in nailing the accused. She told the court that her mother was watching TV when her father and two men killed her,” he unveiled.
He proclaimed, “Seeing the heinous nature of the crime, we argued for the death penalty. The case was heard before the court of additional district and sessions judge Tabrez Ahmed, who found all three guilty under IPC sections 302 and 34.”
The pair first ran into each other during a relative’s wedding, where they fell in love and got married. They stayed in a rented house for a few days. Subsequently, it turned out that the offender is a Muslim and has 4 children from his first marriage. The shocking disclosure led to problems in their relationship. However, the two agreed to adhere to their own respective religions after reconciliation.
Notably, notorious instances of love jihad are on the rise at an alarming rate despite denials from some sections of society, including Islamists, liberals, and leftists.
