Muzzafarnagar: Communal Hatred in Muzzafarnagar claimed the life of a 22-yr-old Muslim father after he decided to visit their village to celebrate Eid.
Naseem Khan who got married to 18-yr-old Pinki Kumari in 2015, after two years of communal riots in Muzaffarnagar that killed around 62 people and displaced 50,000 people in the riots, was brutally shot to death when they came to revisit their village.
The couple eloped and relocated to Vishakhapatnam where their son Abdullah was born last year on 17 July.
The couple decided to visit their village to celebrate Eid last month, but tragedy struck them that resulted in Naseem’s murder.
Naseem while returning home with a birthday cake for his son, was attacked and allegedly murdered by his in-laws. Initially, his in-laws beat him up with sticks and then shot Naseem twice in the stomach and the forehead. He breathed his last breath on 1.15pm after being shot.
His wife Pinki said the duo used to be neighbours and that “We studied in the same school. A few years ago, my parents came to know about us. They locked me in the house and my brother beat me up. They wanted me to marry someone else,” said Pinki.
She said the duo eloped and settled in Vishakhapatnam, where Naseem was earning through selling clothes. They returned to Muzaffarnagar and got married later, where Pinki accepted Islam and changed her name to Ayesha.
“It’s been barely two years since they got married. It was a court marriage. There were no ceremonies. Soon after they got married, they returned to Visakhapatnam,” said Naseem’s cousin, Nazar Mohammad.
Speaking of the terror the couple faced for the past two years, Pinki said, “Initially, my parents and brothers used to threaten my in-laws. They would send messages through other villagers. We celebrated all the festivals away from home”.
This year the couple decided to celebrate Eid after the threats stopped. “We arrived here a day before Eid, on June 25. We were supposed to return to Visakhapatnam within a few days. But we decided to celebrate our son’s first birthday here, so we extended our stay. We would have left for Visakhapatnam today,” said Pinki.
Naseem’s cousin Nazar Mohammed claims to be with Naseem during the attack and said “Naseem and his 14-year-old brother were on his motorcycle. I was on a motorcycle behind them. We had gone to make arrangements for his son’s birthday, and Naseem had got a cake”.
“At around 1:10 pm, a man who was hiding in the sugarcane fields attacked Naseem with a stick… Three others rushed to the road and threw a cycle to stop Naseem’s motorcycle. They beat him up first. When a crowd started gathering, they fired at least three-four shots at him. They were coming towards us, but when they saw that people had gathered, they fled from the spot,” he claimed.
Police has filed FIR against Naseem’s in-laws that are Pinki’s father Rajesh, Brother Pradeep, cousin Sonu and another relative Nitu under IPC sections 302, 147, 148, 159 and 506, relating to murder and rioting.
Muzaffarnagar SP Ajay Kumar Sahdev said, “The FIR has been registered on the basis of the complaint filed by Naseem’s cousin against four persons. The accused are absconding but we are conducting raids and they will be nabbed soon. A post-mortem has been conducted and the body has been returned to the family”.
The victim Naseem’s wife Pinky claims to have spoken to her brother on hearing the news of her husband’s death in the afternoon. Her parent’s house which is located at 2 km’s away from Naseem’s house in Bhokarhedi’s Pathan colony, is locked since the incident on Monday.
“I asked him why he had killed my husband. It was not my husband’s fault. I had run away from my parent’s house. I asked him how could he not think of my one-year-old son while killing my husband. My brother said he would kill me and my son… I want them behind bars. How can the police not find them? They must be at some relative’s house or hiding in the fields” said Pinky.
The Bhokarhedi area of Muzaffarnagar district was not affected by the riots said the residents of the area.
“Even during the Muzaffarnagar riots, this area was not affected by communal tension,” said Atiq Khan, one resident.