On Friday, April 15, a mob set the house of an ex-Muslim gym instructor on fire in Agra, Uttar Pradesh. According to local news outlets, the mob was led by a local right-wing Hindu group.
Sajid, whose last name was not provided by local news outlets, was accused of kidnapping a Hindu girl, who turned out to be a 22-year-old woman.
On April 11, the woman’s family filed a police report claiming that their daughter was missing. Police were able to recover the woman on April 13 but were unable to locate the alleged kidnapper.
After the police recovered the woman, local Hindu residents gathered at the police station demanding Sajid’s arrest. According to local news outlets, residents knew that Sajid converted to Hinduism before marrying the Hindu woman.
NDTV reported that a fringe extreme Hindutva group called Dharam Jagran Samanvay Sangh led the mob in torching the man’s house. They also burned an adjoining house belonging to his relatives. The arsons were committed in anger due to the fact that Sajid hadn’t been arrested.
A video showing the couple was circulated on social media. The woman explained that she is an adult and that marrying Sajid was her own decision.
A video later emerged on social media in which the woman could be heard saying that she had gone with Sajid out of her own will and that no one else was responsible for the decision. pic.twitter.com/hmbrh17Esk
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) April 16, 2022
In September last year, a 24-year-old Muslim man was tortured and killed in the state of Karnataka for loving a Hindu girl.
According to the police, they were able to arrest eight individuals linked to the burning of the houses. Most of the individuals arrested are members of Dharam Jagran Samanvay Sangh.
Sudhir Kumar Singh, Senior Superintendent of Police of Agra, went to the scene and immediately deployed several police officers. Singh also ordered the suspension of Agra’s police outpost in-charge for negligence.
