Body of MP woman in inter-faith marriageexhumed in Jhansi on suspicion of murder

Jhansi: A joint team of MP and UP police exhumed the body of a 23- year-old woman, who had converted to marry a man of another religion from Premnagar cemetery in Jhansi on Friday. The deceased, Afroz alias Neelam, a resident of Civil Lines area of Chattarpur, MP had allegedly consumed poison at her in-laws’ home on July 6 though her father has filed an FIR alleging that she was murdered by her husband and in-laws.
The body was exhumed in the presence of SDM Jhansi, Atul Kumar and City SP Chattarpur, Lokendra Singh.The MP police team had reached here a day earlier with a letter for DM Jhansi, seeking permission which was granted. Adequate police force was deployed to avoid any mis-happening. The post-mortem was performed at Jhansi Medical College and the body was handed over to MP police along with the report.
The deceased, who was initially a Hindu by faith, had changed her religion after marriage.
Police swung into action after the father of the deceased lodged an FIR with Chattarpur police alleging that she had been murdered by her husband Talib Khan and in-laws.
During the processes of exhuming the body, the father of the deceased Kishorilal Ahirwar was also present along with her husband Talib Khan and a few more relatives.
As per Kishorilal, her daughter Neelam was abducted by Talib Khan alias Tabbu in 2015 when she was a minor. She was later recovered by the police and sent to a shelter home. In 2017, Neelam ran away from the shelter home and married Talib and converted to Islam with her new identity as Afroz Khan.
Alleging that her daughter had been murdered by her in-laws, Kishorilal told the police that on July 1 he had received a call from her daughter, saying that she is being forced to adopt the rituals of Islam which she had denied and may be killed. The next day he along with his son went to meet her, but were not allowed by the in-laws.
He further alleged that on July 7, he got a message of some mishap and reached Afroz’s home where he found it locked. He came to know through the neighbours that his daughter was taken somewhere wrapped in a white sheet. On further investigation, he got a clue that his daughter was taken to Jhansi. As a result, he lodged a police complaint alleging murder of his daughter by her in-laws and demanded that the body be handed over to him.
Police sources reveal that Afroz was brought to Jhansi by her in-laws where she died. She was later buried at Premnagar burial ground in Jhansi with the help of the maternal uncle of Talib who lives in Jhansi. The burial was done without informing police or getting a post-mortem conducted.
CSP Chattarpur said, “The body was exhumed as part of investigation of the death of Afroz on the basis of the complaint lodged by her father Kishorilal. Till now no arrest has been made and the matter is being probed further.”
SDM Jhansi said, “Afroz’s body was exhumed under section 176 CrPC under my watch as executive magistrate nominated by Jhansi DM. Further investigations are underway.”