Clashes broke out in Uttar Pradesh’s Agra city on Friday after a woman in an interfaith marriage died in suspicious circumstances, The Hindu reported.
The woman, a Hindu, had married a Muslim man a year ago. She was found dead at her in-laws’ home on Friday. Her in-laws claimed that she died by suicide, but the woman’s parents alleged that they had murdered her daughter, according to the Hindustan Times.
Subsequently, activists from the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha gathered at the Shahganj police station in the city seeking action against the woman’s in-laws. The Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs from Agra South and Etmadpur, Yogendra Upadhyay and Ram Pratap Singh Chauhan, also reached the police station on Friday night.
Senior Superintendent of Police, Sudhir Kumar Singh, said that additional personnel were called in from another police station to avert clashes.
He assured that the police will carry out a fair investigation into the matter. “We will hear the complainant and necessary action will be taken,” Singh added.
The police have registered a first information report against the woman’s husband and his family under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (husband or relatives of husband subjecting wife to cruelty), and provisions relating to insulting religious feelings and dowry deaths.
Meanwhile, witnesses told The Hindu that Yuva Morcha Secretary Gaurav Rajawat and district president Shailu Pandit raised provocative slogans against a community. Some protestors also allegedly targeted shops belonging to Muslims.
Mohammed Kaif, who runs a garments shop, told the newspaper that about 50-60 people entered his shop and broke its glass door. He alleged that they also looted garments and cash.
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