Assam: Youth's body found hanging from tree; family alleges murder for not converting to marry girlfriend
Darpan News Desk IANS, 15 Sep, 2022 12:56 PM
Guwahati, Sep 15 (IANS) In a shocking incident at a remote tea garden area at Koilamari Balijan in Assams Lakhimpur district, the body of a tribal youth -- Biki Bishal (20) -- was found hanging from a tree, the police said on Thursday.
The local people and Bishal's family members claimed that he was found with multiple wounds on Wednesday. It is alleged that Bishal was killed for not agreeing to convert to Christianity in order to marry his tribal girlfriend.
Though the police are yet to confirm whether the youth was killed or committed suicide, they have arrested five people in connection with the case.
The detainees include Bishal's girlfriend's father, two relatives and two officials of a local church in the area.
The victim's family has alleged that Bishal was called by someone from his girlfriend's family to her village on September 11 and had been missing since then.
"Bishal was killed and hanged since there was pressure on him to convert to his girlfriend's religion if he wished to marry her," a family member of the victim said.
Locals and the family members also said that Bishal and his girlfriend had eloped earlier this month as they wanted to get married, and subsequently Bishal had brought the girl to his home on September 3.
On September 6, the girl's family members, accompanied by some church officials, came to Bishal's house and allegedly took the girl away forcefully against her will.
The family members and villagers protested outside the local police station on Thursday, demanding justice for Bishal's family.
The area around the Intelligence Bureau office has been sealed and investigation is in progress. A bomb disposal and forensic squads have been positioned at the spot. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann spoke to Director General of Police V.K. Bhawra and sought details about the incident.
Notably, the police detained several people, including party workers, who were not allowing the SDMC to carry out the demolition drive at Shaheen Bagh. After the agitation was quelled, the bulldozer moved forward to demolish the illegal encroachment, an iron structure in front of a building. It is at this juncture that Khan reached the spot and was seen speaking to the officials.
Punjab shares a 553-km barbed-wire fenced international border with Pakistan which is under the vigil of nearly 135 BSF battalions. The drug network operates along the Afghanistan-Pakistan-India route.
Police are looking at this angle. The incident took place near Kengeri at 1 a.m. and the injured were shifted to nearby hospitals. According to the police, the bus had first hit the 4-feet tall road divider and then rammed into the Namma Metro Pillar number 545.
Chairing a meeting of the Special Task Force (STF) team led by its chief Harpreet Sidhu here, Mann said neither political persons nor officers would be spared if found conniving with the drug mafia. He told the police officers to work freely without any political pressure with a sharpened focus to make Punjab a drug-free state.
According to the SHO of Cantonment police station, Rajeev Singh, Ram Lakhan's wife informed the police that her husband had confessed to killing their son following a fight with her. A police team went looking for the 'body' but could not find the child.
