Chandigarh police arrested a 25-year-old married jihadi Mohammad Shariq for allegedly strangulating an 18-year-old school student to death at her residence in Burial here, police said on Wednesday. As per the police statement, the accused, identified as Mohammed Sharik, is married and was allegedly pressurising the girl to be with him in an adulterous relationship.
When the victim Mamta, came to know about the married status, the girl started ignoring Shariq and blocked him on her phone, which outraged the Islamist sexual predator and drove him to murder. Police said they detained the accused from the Sector-43 bus stand while he was trying to flee after the murder. Mohammad Shariq is a resident of Bihar, and his wife lives there while he works in Chandigarh. He was earlier a neighbour of Mamta and later moved to another locality at Burail village. When Mamta was alone at home on Saturday, Shariq choked her to death. Police have not ruled out the case of rape at this moment. She was found dead by her mother, Champa Devi, who returned from work around 2 pm Saturday. Mamta lived with her mother and younger brother in a rented house in the same area where the accused lives. Upon the return of the deceased’s brother from school, he found the door of the house open and found her lying senseless on the bed.
“The accused was caught on the basis of CCTV footage of the area as he was seen going and coming out of the girl’s house. Prima facie it appears to be a case of a one-sided affair, but things will become clear only after the probe and post-mortem report,” DSP Ram Gopal said while adding that the accused was also being questioned. Police also doubt that the accused raped the girl before strangling her. According to police, the accused used to work at a restaurant as a food delivery boy.
