Days after Nagaraju, a Dalit man, was killed in Hyderabad for his interfaith marriage to a Muslim woman, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi condemned the murder and called it “the worst crime as per Islam”. Owaisi said that the woman, Syed Ashrin Sultana, had married willingly, and that her brother did not have any right to kill her husband. “It's a criminal act as per the constitution and the worst crime as per Islam,” he said.
Speaking at an event in Hyderabad, Owaisi said the incident is being given another colour. “Didn't the police here arrest the accused immediately? They have arrested him. We do not stand with the murderers," he added. On his delayed reaction to the murder, Owaisi said the media cannot dictate to him when to react, and that he would react according to his wish.
Twenty-six-year-old Nagaraju was brutally killed in public view in Hyderabad, allegedly by Sultana's brother and another person, on Wednesday, May 4. Nagaraju and Sultana were travelling on a bike when they were confronted by his attackers — Syed Mobin Ahmed, Sultana’s brother, and Mohammed Masood Ahmed. The attackers came on a scooter, stopped the couple on the road, and attacked the man in full public view with an iron rod before stabbing him with a knife, killing him on the spot. The two accused were sent to judicial remand for 14 days by a local court on Thursday, May 5.
Hyderabad mein Nagraju ka qatl, Islam ke khilaaf hai. Ladki ne apni pasand se shaadi ki thi, Kanoon iski ijazat deta hai. Islam mein qatl sabse ghinona jurm haipic.twitter.com/vI4beXXWPZ
— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) May 7, 2022
Referring to communal violence in other parts of the country, Owaisi suggested that high-resolution cameras can be installed at religious places and a live telecast can be done whenever any religious procession passes through the locality so that trouble-makers can be identified. "I am saying that all religious places, especially masjids and dargahs, must install high-resolution cameras and whenever a religious procession is passing through these places of worship, they should open their social media website and do a live telecast," he told reporters in Hyderabad.
Nagaraju’s gruesome murder, which has sparked outrage among the public and political parties, has also generated a heated discussion on whether Sultana’s brother killed Nagaraju because of his religious identity or his caste status. Many anti-caste activists, some within the Muslim community, have pointed out that caste system exists among Indian Muslims, and that the murder could have been a result of caste discrimination. However, according to Sultana, her brother killed Nagaraju over his religion, but Nagaraju’s family alleges that he was killed because he belonged to a Scheduled Caste community.
Read TNM’s interview with Sultana: 'I pleaded with my brother saying spare Nagaraju, I will come home': Sultana speaks
With PTI inputs