On Tuesday, the Maharashtra Police arrested seven persons for allegedly murdering a Hindu boy named Deepak Barde from Shrirampur, Ahmednagar. The accused allegedly killed Deepak Barde for having a relationship with a Muslim girl named Saniya Shaikh and fleeing from home to marry her a month ago. The Police are interrogating all the arrested accused in the case.
According to the reports, the accused, who are relatives of the girl, brutally murdered Deepak and threw his body into the Godavari river. The Police are investigating the case and are searching for his dead body in the river. The deceased belonged to the Adivasi Bhil community and was a resident of the Bhokar village in Shrirampur taluka of Ahmednagar district. He had gone missing since August 31 and the incident came to light after the father of the deceased, Raosaheb Barde filed an FIR at the Shrirampur Police Station.
Deepak’s family suspected that the family members of the woman had killed Deepak as they both had fled from home a month ago. Father Raosaheb Barde in the FIR mentioned that Deepak was kidnapped by Saniya’s family members with the intention of murder. He said that his son had gone to Pune for some work and then never returned from there. “He (Deepak) talked to me last at 8:30 pm and on the next day a few people from our village informed me that Saniya’s father Majnu Shaikh and uncle Imran had abducted my son”, Deepak’s father said.
“I thought they nabbed my son because he had fled with their daughter. I went to the Shrirampur taluka police station but did not share the entire thing, as I felt the complaint, in this case, would be lodged in Pune”, he said adding that Deepak was forcibly brought to Majnu’s house in Bhokar village and was brutally beaten for being in a relationship with Saniya. “Deepak has been untraceable since then”, the FIR signed by Raosaheb Barde read.
The Police began an investigation into the case and found out that Deepak and Saniya Shaikh had fled from home a month ago to marry each other. However, the Police have no evidence confirming that the duo had married each other. “The statement of the woman has also not been recorded yet. But they had a relationship and had escaped together earlier”, the Police quoted.
Meanwhile, Raosaheb, the father of the deceased stated that the duo had fled together but later returned to the village as Saniya’s family members were not happy with their relationship.
Based on a complaint filed by Deepak’s father, the Police had earlier arrested four persons, including Saniya’s father Majnu Shaikh, uncle Imran, and family members Samir Shaikh, and Ajij Shaikh. A case under sections 342, 364 (kidnapping or abducting to murder), 34 of the Indian Penal Code, and sections of the SC & ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act had also been filed against them.
Earlier, BJP MLA Nitesh Rane took cognizance of the incident and had asked the Shrirampur Police to conduct a thorough investigation into the case. “Deepak has been killed because he was a Hindu. We’ll not spare anyone who targets the people from the Hindu community. We Hindus should come together for victims like Deepak. We must show our strength. The accused have been arrested but Deepak is still missing. We will not tolerate this. A thorough investigation should be done in the case and Deepak and his family should get justice”, Rane had said.
In the current case, after the initial investigation, the Maharashtra Police have arrested three more persons and have booked all seven accused under the relevant sections of the law. However, the Police are still looking for the dead body of the deceased in the Godavari river and are further investigating the case. OpIndia tried to contact the Police for additional information but the calls remained unanswered.