Mehnaz, the husband of young Malayali vlogger Rifa Mehnu who died in Dubai in March this year, has been charged under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and taken into custody by the Kozhikode police on Thursday, August 4. Mehnaz had filed an anticipatory bail plea in the Kerala High Court in a case related to Rifa’s death. He was, however, booked under the POCSO Act for marrying Rifa before she turned 18. Rifa and Mehnaz got married after meeting on social media, and Rifa became pregnant when she was 17 years old.
Rifa, who was living with Mehnaz in Dubai after they got married, was found dead in their apartment on March 1. She was only 20. The couple’s child was with Rifa’s parents in Kerala. Though her body was brought back to Kozhikode and buried, it was exhumed for a post mortem on March 7. This was done following a complaint by her parents that they suspected that her death was murder and not suicide. They suspected that domestic abuse by her husband might have led to her death.
Rifa was a star on social media, with lakhs of followers on Instagram. She used to appear in videos with Mehnaz, and the couple would do food reviews or simply pose together. They also acted in a music video together. When Rifa passed away suddenly on March 1, Mehnaz reportedly posted a video about her death as an Instagram story, which he removed after the police asked him to. He had suggested that it was a case of suicide; however, Rifa’s family expressed suspicions over the circumstances of her sudden death. She had called the family the day before she died and spoken cheerfully, they said. Her parents had alleged that Mehnaz used to torture Rifa mentally and physically even in front of them.