‘How Can We Syeds Give Our Daughter To A Faqir?’ Family Kills Daughter And Her Boyfriend Over Caste Difference

Members of an ‘upper caste’ Muslim family have been arrested for killing their daughter and her boyfriend, who was from a ‘lower caste’, over their love affair.

The key accused told the police — “How can we Syeds give our daughter to a Faqir?”. 

The couple, who lived in Asara village of Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat district, was killed on Tuesday (8 November) night. 

Baghpat Superitendent of Police Neeraj Kumar Jadaun said in a press statement yesterday that around 9 pm on Tuesday, the Ramala Police received information that a man named Mursaleen had killed his sister Mehezabin and her friend Arif, and hidden the bodies at an unknown spot.

When the police reached the spot and took Mursaleen into custody, he said he strongly disapproved of his sister’s relationship with Arif. 

Mehezabin was married and mother of three children. On 20 October, she eloped with Arif, who was also married. Mursaleen, along with his brothers and cousins named Mozzamil, Armaan, Muntazir and Shahnawaz, hatched a plan to kill the duo. 

They caught Mehezabin and Arif in Meerut, where they killed Arif at the house of Mozzamil, and hid the body in the jungle. Then they brought Mehezabin to Asara village, and killed her in the jungle too.  

The police carried out a search operation all night and recovered the bodies, and sent them for post-mortem. Mursaleen and Shahnawaz had been arrested while search for their accomplices was on, the officer’s statement said.

Shahnawaz is a resident of Muzaffarnagar, which is adjoining Baghpat district.

SP Jadaun told Swarajya over the phone on Wednesday that when he interrogated Mursaleen, his first words were — “How can we Syeds give our daughter to a Faqir?”

“We were shocked to hear that, and asked him how he could do that to his own sister. Mursaleen repeated his statement,” the officer said.

SP Jadaun said that on 22 October, a police case was filed at Ramala Police Station against “kidnapping” of Mehezabin by Arif. After the police recovered the duo, Mehezabin said she had gone with Arif out of her free will.

“Mursaleen’s family was dead against Mehezabin’s statement but the police had no case against Arif as both are well above 18 years of age,” the officer said.

The Ramala Police have booked the five suspects under IPC sections 302, 36, 506, 201, 120B and 34 (FIR number 309/2022). A police case has also been filed in Meerut’s Chaprauli Police Station where Arif was allegedly killed, under IPC sections 302, 201 and 147 (FIR number 328/2022).

As per a press note shared by Baghpat Police on their verified Twitter account, Mehezabin was 26 years of age. Arif’s age is not mentioned. The note mentions that Mursaleen told the police his sister had been in a relationship with Arif for long.

This correspondent contacted Mushtaq, father of Arif, but he said he would not like to talk about the case.

A report by Hindi daily Amar Ujala published today (10 November) says that the main grouse of Mehezabin’s brothers and cousins against Arif was that he was from Faqir caste while they are Syeds.

A few days ago, Arif’s uncle Gayoor Hasan had been threatened by them. On a tip-off that Arif and Mehezabin were about to alight from a train in Meerut on the evening of 8 November, the accused reached the spot and apprehended them.

They sent Mehezabin to Asara with a relative and took Arif to Muzaffarnagar, where they killed him. Then they brought the body to Meerut and threw it in the jungle.

The report quotes Mehezabin’s mother Taj Bano as saying that her son Mursaleen executed the crime out of rage.

About Syeds And Faqirs

The Syed caste among Indian Muslims comprises people who identify themselves as either belonging to a foreign race or converts from upper-caste Hindus.

The Faqir caste among Indian Muslims, on the other hand, comprises people who are converts from the Hindu ‘sadhu’ community, that is, those who were traditionally mendicant. Faqir is Arabic word for ‘poor’. 

Faiyaz Ahmad Fyzie, an activist who calls out caste-discrimination among Indian Muslims, told Swarajya that as per Shariah (fiqh), marriage between a Syed woman and a Faqir man in unlawful as they are not ‘kufu’. “ 

“If you were to ask any prominent Islamic seminary if a Syed woman can marry a Faqir man, they will give in writing that it is unlawful, such a nikah would be un-Islamic, and any Qazi will have the power to nullify such a nikah,” said Fyzie.

It is pertinent to mention here that as per Pew Research Center‘s latest survey in India, opposition to intercaste marriages is strongest within the Muslim community. As per the research, 74 per cent Muslims oppose women marrying outside caste as opposed to 64 per cent Hindus who do it.