Latest Woman To Get Killed For Resisting Conversion-Nikah Was A Cop

A 22-year-old woman constable from Bihar, Prabha Bharti, was shot dead under suspicious circumstances on 8 February in Katihar district.

Though the police had refrained from commenting on the perpetrators and the motive immediately, when Swarajya called up the police station concerned today (13 February), the in-charge said that the murder was “100 per cent” carried out by Mohammed Hasan, the suspect that Prabha’s family had named.

The family told the media after the murder that Hasan alias Chhote was pressuring Prabha to have nikah with him.

The Murder

Prabha was reportedly deployed for security for the state chief minister’s visit to Lakhisarai district from Munger district on 7 February. She was posted in Suryagarha block.

A day later, she boarded a passenger train from Jamalpur Railway Station in Munger to Bhagalpur at around two in the afternoon. She later boarded a bus from Bhagalpur to Katihar. 

In the bus, she called up her parents and informed them about her safety. Around eight in the night, the family was informed by the Bihar Police that she was found shot dead.

Her Family Named Hasan

Soon after the murder, Prabha’s family members alleged that one Mohammed Hasan alias Chhote had killed her. They said he had been harassing her ever since she broke up with him.  

A report by Dainik Bhaskar, quoting Prabha’s family, said that Hasan hid his religious identity before forming a relationship with Prabha. She broke up after learning of his Muslim identity. He however was constantly blackmailing her with threats of leaking their private pictures online.

Prabha’s family filed a police complaint against seven people including Hasan. The named accused in the FIR are (1) Mohammad Hasan Arshad alias Chhote (2) Mohammad Qadir, (3) Sonu, (4) Danish, (5) Sajjad, (6) Digga Yadav and (7) Priyansh. 

Pratima also said that Prabha had informed the local police about Hasan but they did not take it seriously. 

Pratima’s statement can be seen here.

Of all the named accused, the police have arrested Qadir and Danish so far, Korha Police Station in-charge, Ranjan Kumar, told Swarajya today.

About Prabha

Prabha was a resident of Das Toli village located in Faridpur area of Jamalpur near Munger district. She was inducted into the Bihar Military Police (BMP) on 5 May 2021. Her father, Manoj Kumar Das, is principal of a government school. 

Soon after the murder, Katihar Superintendent of Police Jitendra Kumar told the media that the motive behind the murder was yet to be identified. He said the accused had fired two bullets near the neck are of Prabha. 

Another Addition To A Spate Of Such Cases

Prabha‘s murder is yet another addition to a long list of cases where Hindu women have been found to be trapped in love affairs by men from the Muslim community through fraud, for motive of their religious conversion or sexual exploitation. Several women have ended up murdered for resisting conversion-nikah.

In October 2020, a college student named Nikita Tomar was shot dead by a man named Tausif Ahmed, who belongs to an influential family linked to the Congress Party. After Nikita’s murder, her family put up a banner outside the house saying that their daughter had been killed for refusing to convert to Islam and marry Tausif.

The incident happened in Faridabad district of Haryana. Read Swarajya’s ground report on the case here.

The same month, a Hindu woman in Lakhimpur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh had her throat slit by her stalker named Mohammed Danish, who was pressuring her to have nikah with him. Read Swarajya‘s ground report of the case here.

In June 2020, a Sikh woman named Naina Kaur was stabbed to her death two days before her wedding with a Sikh man, by a man named Shahrukh. Naina had turned down his proposal of nikah. Read Swarajya’s ground report on the case here.

In December 2021, a woman named Kanishka Sharma was shot five times by a man named Mohammed Sahil for turning down his proposal of nikah and marrying a man from her Hindu community instead. Kanishka survived the fatal attack. Read Swarajya’s report of the case, which happened in Haryana, here.

In May, a minor Hindu girl had her throat slit by her stalker Mohammed Arshad in Rajasthan, for refusing to have nikah with him. Read Swarajya’s report of the case here.

In July, a woman named Vijay Lakshmi was beheaded by a stalker named Mohammed Irfan alias Sonu and his accomplices Mohammed Shadan and Mohammed Shahbaz, for resisting him. Her mother Shakuntala, 50, was also killed. Read Swarajya’s report of the case here.

The same month, a minor Hindu girl was attacked with blade by her stalker Danish Khan in Uttar Pradesh’s Jhansi for resisting him. Read Swarajya’s report here.

In November, a woman named Nidhi Gupta was allegedly pushed off the terrace, leading to her death, by a man named Mohammed Sufiyan. Her family told the police that Sufiyan was pressuring Nidhi to have nikah with him, but she had refused. Read Swarajya’s report of the case here.

In December, a woman named Neelkusum Panna was stabbed to death by one Mohammad Shahbaz, who she had begun to distance from.

In January, after a minor girl committed suicide, her family told the police that one Rafiq Siddiqui was pressuring her to have conversion-nikah with him. The incident was reported from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.