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 incident took place at Kusupur village in the state's Cuttack district. Accused Shiba Prasad Sahoo (42) confessed to the crime through a video message and sent it to his village sarpanch and few others. He later surrendered before Balichandrapur police in Jajpur district.
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The Left alliance members accused the ABVP of forcefully imposing a ban on non vegetarian food at the Kaveri Hostel in the campus while the ABVP alleged that the members of the Left alliance including the NSUI were not allowing them to conduct a Pooja and Havan programme on the occasion of Ram Navami.
Two people were declared dead and several others injured after two cable cars in a ropeway collided with each other at the Trikut hills close to Baba Baidyanath Temple in Deoghar on Sunday.
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The crime data indicates that 158 murders have taken place in the state this year in almost 100 days making an average of 50 murders per month, while in previous years, the number of murders was 724 and 757 in 2021 and 2020, respectively, making the monthly average of murders for 2021 and 2020 was 60 and 65 murders respectively.
