(HT PHOTO)

A 25-year-old Hindu man who married a Muslim woman was killed by his wife’s brother in a suspected hate crime in Hyderabad late on Wednesday, police said, adding that two people were arrested in connection with the case.

The woman, too, was injured in the attack, police added.

The victim was identified as Billipuram Nagaraju, from Marpally village in Vikarabad district. He was working as a salesman in an automobile showroom in Hyderabad. "We have arrested the two killers – Syed Mobind Ahmed (30) who is the brother of the deceased’s wife and his friend Mohammad Masood Ahmed (29). We are producing the accused before the local court for judicial custody," deputy commissioner of police Sunpreet Singh said.

The DCP said a case was registered at Saroornagar police station against the accused under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code, besides Section 3 (2)(V) of SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 2015, as the victim belonged to the Mala community – listed as a scheduled caste.

According to Singh, Nagaraju was in a relationship with 23-year-old Syed Ashrin Sultana for more than five years. "Mobin Ahmed had warned his sister several times against moving around with Nagaraju..," the DCP said.

On January 30 this year, the couple eloped. The following day, they got married at an Arya Samaj Mandir, the DCP said. Sultana converted to Hinduism and changed her name to Pallavi, said the senior police officer.

"On February 1, Sultana’s family members filed a missing person case in Balanagar police station and started searching for her," Singh said.

According to the DCP, the couple fled to Visakhapatnam, where they stayed at a friend’s place for two months. They moved back to Hyderabad and were staying in a rented house in Saroor Nagar. The officer said accused Mobin Ahmed tracked down Nagaraju to a showroom in Malakpet. On Wednesday night, Mobin and Masood followed the couple when they were returning home, he added.

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As they approached Panjala Anil Kumar Colony, the accused waylaid the two. "Mobin pushed the couple down from the bike and started beating Nagaraju with an iron rod indiscriminately on his head. Masood took out a knife and stabbed him indiscriminately. After confirming that Nagaraju died, the accused fled the spot..."

Sultana, who tried to stop her brother, was also assaulted and pushed away, he added.

Based on CCTV footage, the police tracked the accused and arrested them within hours, the DCP added.

"Among the people involved in the killing, I only recognise my brother. My husband Nagaraju was beaten at the signal in front of everyone. I begged the onlookers for help but to no avail," Sultana was quoted as saying by ANI.

Condemning the murder, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday said that the incident was clearly a hate crime.

BJP state president Bandi Sanjay said in a statement: "It is purely a communal incident and we want the government to expose the communal elements behind the murder."

Meanwhile, Telangana for Peace and Unity (TPU), a citizens’ forum, condemned the murder.

TPU, which comprises social activists such as Khalida Parveen of Amanat Society, Sabah Quadri of Help Hyderabad, and civil rights activist Kaneez Fathima, said the murder was a gross violation of the right to life and liberty. "It is also a grave gender violence on a woman who exercises her free will to marry a person of her choice."

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