In yet another case where a Hindu woman has been killed after elopement and conversion-nikah, rotting body of Uma Sharma alias Arfa Fatima was recovered from her own bedroom by police on 24 December in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri district.

Her husband Wasi Ahmed killed her by giving her electric shock on 22 December, police said.

A press note shared from the police’s Twitter account said that a case was registered at Gola Police Station of Kheri in the murder (FIR number 850/2022).

The main accused Wasi, along with his brother Rafi, were arrested on 25 December. They have been booked under IPC sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence).

The note (attached below) said that the police have seized a four-metre electricity wire that was used for giving electric shock.

Local news reports said that Uma had eloped and married Wasi after her conversion to Islam, and was renamed as Arfa Fatima.

A report by Amar Ujala said that the two used to be neighbours. After Uma left her family, Wasi shifted to another locality. He lived with his mother Ashiya and brother Rafi. His father passed away several years ago.

The report quotes Ashiya as saying that Wasi confided in her that he had killed Fatima in a fit of rage after she threatened to go to the police against him. Ashiya then approached the police herself on 23 December.

She told another newspaper that Fatima and Wasi would constantly fight. However, the reports do not say what they fought about. They have children, both sons, named Haider and Humayun.

Swarajya has reported a large number of cases where Hindu women have been murdered or killed themselves for refusing to or after accepting conversion-nikah.

The pattern of such cases is called by Hindu activists as ‘love jihad’ - a term coined by Christian organisations more than a decade ago.

Besides Hindus and Christians, the term has also been used by Sikh, Jain, Buddhist and tribal groups.

Here is a list of such cases.

· Ground Report: Hill Town In Himachal Worried About ‘Growing Radicalisation’ After Chilling Murder Of Hindu Girl

· She Was Called ‘Kaafir Ki Aulaad’: Family Of Hindu Woman Who Committed Suicide A Year After Marrying Muslim Man Tells Court

· Nepalese Man Living In India Using Fake Aadhaar Card Kills His Second Wife, A Hindu, Who Converted To Marry Him

· ‘Love Jihad Victim’ Shot Six Times After Her Wedding In Haryana, Continues To Battle For Life After Two Weeks

· Sher Khan Killed Naina Kaur For Turning Him Down. So Which Family Left The House In Fear?

· ‘She Would Cry For Hours; Never Told Us Why’. Two Years After Her Murder, Ekta Jaswal’s Family Has No Answers To How Saqib Trapped Her

· Before Killing Her, Tausif Kidnapped And Confined Nikita In His House So She Would Become ‘Unmarriageable’

· Hyderabad: Another SC Woman Killed By Muslim Boyfriend; Butcher’s Knife Used For Slitting Throat

· Another ‘Interfaith Love’ Ends Up In Murder: Shamshad Kills Priya And Her Daughter, Buries Bodies In Own House

· ‘My Daughter Fell Prey To Love Jihad’, Say Parents Of Tribal Woman Found Dead Seven Months After She Eloped To Become A Man’s Second Wife

· Interfaith Love: Rachna, Who Eloped With Irfan And Accused Him Of Forcible Conversion, Is Dead

· Five Months After Woman Was Found Murdered, Key Accused Surrenders; Hindu Outfits Were Demanding Arrest 

· Three Years Ago, Uma Eloped With Arif. Today, She Is Fighting For Her Life After Being Burnt By Him

· ‘She Would Cry For Hours; Never Told Us Why’. Two Years After Her Murder, Ekta Jaswal’s Family Has No Answers To How Saqib Trapped Her

· Another Shraddha-Like Murder: Tribal Woman From Jharkhand Killed, Chopped Into Pieces And Thrown Away By Husband And His Family; She Was His Second Wife

· Maheen Kannu Hid His Religion To Marry Divya Mandiram, Killed Her And Her Daughter Eleven Years Ago With Help Of First Wife: Kerala Police

· ‘All Political Parties Visited Us, But We Got No Justice,’ Says Family, A Month After Their Daughter Was Allegedly Raped And Killed In UP’s Lakhimpur