Family of woman who died by suicide alleging forced conversion demands NIA probe
The mother of the deceased ay wrote to chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and state police chief Ravada A Chandrasekhar requesting an NIA probe into the case citing her daughter's alleged torture by her boyfriend and his family to convert her to his faith before marrying her.
The 23-year-old woman of Christian faith, a TTC (Teacher Training Course) student in Kothamangalam, was found dead at her home on August 9. In a purported suicide note recovered by the police later, she had written about being neglected by her boyfriend Ramees (24) and refusing to marry her. In the note, she also reportedly stated that she was tortured by him and his family at their home when she refused to convert to his faith before marriage.
Her brother told the media that even though she was initially in favour of religious conversion, she changed her mind after her father's death in the past year. Ramees was arrested on Monday and booked on charges of abetment to suicide, rape under the pretext of marriage, wrongful confinement and voluntarily causing hurt.
The deceased's mother has alleged that the local police have booked the accused on 'light' charges and demanded a probe by the central agency into allegations of religious conversion.
A senior police officer told HT on Tuesday that they are still investigating and gathering evidence to determine if the accused and his family attempted to forcibly convert the deceased woman.
'We are still investigating the angle of religious conversion and seeking legal opinion on whether criminal charges can be invoked along those lines,' she said.
She also confirmed that the accused Ramees' parents, who were questioned on Tuesday, would be booked for abetment to suicide and other charges. 'They will be arrested soon,' she said.
A nine-member special investigation team (SIT) led by Muvattupuzha deputy superintendent of police (DySP) was announced on Tuesday to investigate the case.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
23 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Ramalingam murder: NIA arrests one, conducts searches at houses of alleged members of banned PFI in Dindigul
NIA officers on Wednesday arrested a man on charges of harbouring the accused in the 2019 murder of PMK functionary Ramalingam. The arrested person, identified as Inpattullah, was running a restaurant in Kodaikanal. The NIA conducted searches at eight places in the district in connection with the murder. The searches were conducted at the residences of individuals allegedly associated with the Popular Front of India (PFI), a Muslim outfit banned by the Centre. NIA officials searched the house of Sheikh Abdulla, a painter, in Begumpur. They recovered documents and mobile phones from Abdulla and his wife. They also searched the house of Mohammed Yasin, an electrician of Shamsudeen Colony in Oddanchatram. They recovered mobile phones and other documents from the house. In Batlagundu, NIA officers searched the house of Umar Khattab at Kurinji Nagar. The agency also conducted searches in five places in Kodaikanal.
India Today
2 hours ago
- India Today
Rise in attacks on minorities, forced conversions of Hindus: Pak human rights body
There has been an alarming rise in violence against religious minorities during the last year apart from forced conversions and underage marriages of Hindu and Christian girls, Pakistan's top human rights body has said.'Streets of Fear: Freedom of Religion or Belief in 2024/25,' a report by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) released here on Tuesday documents a 'deeply troubling year' for religious freedom and minority rights' referring to the Ahmadis, Hindus and Christians in the has been an alarming rise in violence against religious minorities, including targeted killings of the Ahmadis and the demolition of their protected places of worship,' the report said. There has been persistent forced conversions and underage marriages of Hindu and Christian girls in Punjab and Sindh province exposing the systematic failure to enforce child marriage restraint laws, the HRCP HRCP said that there has been a trend of mob lynching of those especially minority members accused of blasphemy. 'Now the most chilling account is that of extra-judicial killing of minority members accused of blasphemy,' it individuals accused of blasphemy were extra-judicially killed by police while seeking protection from hostile mobs, it said and added that such incidents underscore the urgent need for reform within law enforcement and accountability report also pointed out the rise in hate speech ranging from threats against the chief justice of the Supreme Court to public vilification of elected representatives. This is because of shrinking civic space and emboldened extremist elements, the report said it is shocking to see the increasing tilt of the bar associations towards positions aligned with extremist religious extremist groups. 'This trend undermines the independence of the legal profession,' the report said even as it documented allegations of collusion by the state institutions in cases where several hundred young men and women were entrapped in accusations of blasphemy and extorted. 'This is one of the most alarming trends.'The report asked the Pakistan government to establish an inquiry commission based on the findings of the National Commission for Human Rights with respect to entrapment in allegations of blasphemy.'The authorities should also monitor those seminaries that are frequently involved in the conversion of underage girls,' it report further said that law enforcement forces also need to be better equipped to protect individuals from mob violence, with vital police training in intelligence gathering, crowd management, reading early signals of riots, and community policing.'Swift action should be taken against those who instigate such mobs. The government must urgently establish an independent statutory national commission dedicated to the rights of minorities, ensuring equal representation for all religious communities,' the HRCP report demanded.- EndsMust Watch
India Today
8 hours ago
- India Today
NIA raids nine locations in Tamil Nadu in 2019 PMK member murder case, arrests one
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday carried out searches at nine locations across Tamil Nadu in connection with the 2019 murder of PMK functionary were conducted in Dindigul, Tenkasi, and Kodaikanal, including at the residence of Sheik Abdullah, an office-bearer of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI). During the searches, the NIA arrested one person, Imthathullah, for allegedly harbouring absconding proclaimed offenders linked to the case relates to the killing of Ramalingam in Thanjavur district in February 2019. He was allegedly attacked by members of the now-banned Popular Front of India (PFI) after he opposed religious conversion attempts. The NIA, which took over the case in March 2019, had earlier chargesheeted 18 people, of whom six were declared proclaimed then, multiple arrests have been made, including that of Mohammed Ali Jinnah in November 2024 for allegedly sheltering absconders for nearly six years. Three more proclaimed offenders were arrested between 2021 and January 2025, while searches are still on for others, carrying a reward of Rs 5 lakh.- EndsMust Watch IN THIS STORY#Tamil Nadu
