In Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, a minor Hindu girl committed suicide by consuming poison after her classmate Shavez Rizvi uploaded her video on social media. According to reports, the accused recorded the minor girl’s video on August 15 and posted it on Instagram. Upset with this, the girl consumed poison on September 2. She succumbed during treatment on September 3.
The deceased and the accused reportedly studied in the same inter-college located in the Devaraniya police station area.
Notably, the Bareilly police arrested the accused Shavez Rizvi on September 1 under the IPC sections 394 (causing hurt) and 500 (defamation) and sections of the POCSO Act and the IT Act based on a complaint the deceased’s family had lodged on August 29 after the video went viral on social media. After the girl committed suicide, the IPC section for abetment to suicide was added to the FIR.
The accused posted the viral footage as his Instagram story. In it, the girl, who is wearing a brown dupatta around her head, and the accused are seen seated together in what appears to be a cafeteria or canteen. The boy, in the video, is seen flirting with the girl. He even tries to kiss her but the girl stops him from doing so. An old Bollywood tune is playing in the background.
Speaking to OpIndia, local Hindu organizations accused the school, where the deceased minor girl and the accused were studying, of promoting ‘love jihad’. OpIndia also spoke to the girl’s father who informed that the school in which his daughter was studying is run by a Muslim man named Shakeel Sherry Doctor and his family.
The father of the deceased added that the ratio of Hindu and Muslim students in the school was equal. While his daughter was studying in class 11, the accused was studying in class 12 in the same school.
Lamenting how the 16-year-old deceased’s two younger brothers had already died untimely due to diseases, the father added that half a packet of rat poison was kept in the house for many days and the girl found it and ate it. The reason for consuming poison was extreme tension, he bemoaned.
SHO Deoraniya, Devendra Dhama, meanwhile, said that as soon as the matter came to notice, a case was immediately registered and the accused was arrested. He further said that Section 306 has been invoked against the accused. In the post-mortem report, the SHO said the cause of death was poisoning.
Shakeel’s school advocates ‘Love Jihad’
OpIndia spoke to local Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) activist Himanshu Patel about the incident. Describing the school as Muslim-dominated in terms of the student ratio, Himanshu accused the caretaker of the school of encouraging ‘Love Jihad’ within the school premises. Himanshu said that all the Muslim students of the school take Hindu girls to hotels and restaurants as part of a well-planned conspiracy. Himanshu claimed to have spoken to the deceased a week ago.
He asserted that the girl told him that several other Hindu girls at her school were being pursued by Muslim students. Himanshu urged that the school be investigated and that Hindu parents conduct thorough research before sending their children to such schools.
Deceased’s family happy with the police action
According to some media reports, the deceased’s father denied any police negligence in the case. He stated that the police are doing what is necessary and that the in charge of the local police station is in regular contact with them. Local VHP officer Himanshu Patel also praised the promptness the Bareilly police showed in handling the aforementioned case. He said that almost immediately after the video went viral, the police arrested the accused by registering a case against him and sent him to jail.
