By TCN Staff Reporter,
Mumbai: After five-day police custody, two Muslim youths in twenties – brothers in relation – were again given in police custody for five more days by a Jalna court on Thursday, sending fear waves in the family that they might be implicated in some heinous cases like ‘Love Jihad’ or terrorism.
The youths had eloped with two Hindu girls – adults — of their locality and married them on 22nd February 2012 and the couples had since been in the hiding in Washim near Jalna. Parents of the girls filed complaint on 26th February. The couples learnt about the police complaint and the subsequent harassment of the boys’ family. So they sent court affidavits of their marriage through fax to the police. In the affidavits, the couples stated that they were adults and had married and converted out of their free will. But the Jalna police continued looking for them and on the basis of the stamp seal of the advocate on the affidavits they tracked down the couples on 5th April in Washim. Though Washim is about 6 hours from Jalna, the boys were produced before the magistrate in Jalna on 7th April and taken on police remand. Today again they were sent on police remand till 17th April.
When the couples were taken into custody the girls refused to support the rape charges made in the complaint against their husbands. They were sent to the Akola Bal Sudhar Griha. They have now been shifted back to their parents’ home.
A journalist from Jalna who is aware of the case informed TCN that the family of the boys – their father is a moazzin in the local mosque – had been harassed by the police since the boys eloped with the girls on 22nd Feb. The police conducted several raids and searches on their home and their relatives’ home.
Not only this, the elder brother and one cousin of the boys were not only detained but have been booked under section 361. They were twice remanded to police custody during this time before sending them for judicial remand.
He said the family fears that the police may implicate the boys in some other cases. He said such incidents are common in the country but the long police custody has created apprehension in the family.
While Sheikh Mohd. Ali (s/o Shaikh Mehboob) age 26 year works as a salesman at a sewing machine showroom his brother Sheikh Khalid Ahmed age 23 years is second year B.Sc. student.