Yet another Hindu woman lost her life after entering into an interfaith relationship with a Muslim man. Anas Qureshi (29) slit the throat of Ekta Singh (27) in Punjab’s Mohali after having a relationship for over four years. Anas owned a food outlet, whereas Ekta worked as a manager in a US-based Multi National Company (MNC). The motive behind the brutal murder is yet to be revealed by the police.
The horrific incident happened in the wee hours of April 6 at Ekta’s house, located in Sunny Enclave, Kharar.
A First Information Report (FIR) in this case was registered at the City Kharar Police Station of the SAS Nagar district on April 6, by Ekta’s brother Rohit Kumar Singh.
As per his statement in the FIR, Ekta was her elder sister and in a relationship with Anas for the last three or four years. The family members were well aware of the relationship. Anas had even visited their house and joined them for the wedding of their eldest brother Sukhchain Singh.
The duo met in Chandigarh and had lived-in together for some time. Anas, son of Jamaluddin, is a native of Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh.
However, sometime back, Ekta told Rohit about her relationship turning sour with Anas and hence she mostly remained upset.
On the fateful day of April 5, there was a family function and the whole family decided to go, Ekta cancelled the plan in between, saying Anas had asked her to stay back as he would come and meet her. This is why Ekta stayed at home while the rest of the family went to attend the function.
On April 6, when the family members returned home, they saw the car was not parked outside the house and the door was also open. When they called Ekta, she did not respond and hence, Rohit went upstairs to check.
He saw Ekta was lying on the floor with her body soaked in blood, her neck had a deep wound and it was bleeding heavily. By then, Ekta was dead.
Rohit accused Anas of the murder and demanded his arrest. Based on this complaint, the police booked Anas under IPC Section 302 (Murder).
Organiser called up the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Karan Singh Sandhu, on April 8. Below are the excerpt from this conversation;
About the accused, Sandhu said, the accused and the victim were friends and he even used to come to her house.
Notably, the family had moved into their 250-square-yard, newly constructed house in Sunny Enclave just six months back where the murder took place.
On the night of the murder, the accused was caught on camera, entering the victim’s house. Then they argued and the accused came out in changed clothes and left the place taking the victim’s car.
While fleeing in the victim’s car, the accused ended up suffering critical injuries in an accident near Shahabad, Haryana, having travelled nearly 80 km from her house.
“We are yet to ascertain the exact reason behind the murder as the accused is undergoing treatment and not in a condition to give a statement,” Sandhu said.
He denied allegations around ‘Love Jihad’ saying the couple and the family knew about the identity of the accused from the beginning.
As per a media report, a CCTV camera captured Anas coming out of the victim’s house around 4.30 am, carrying bottles and fleeing in her car.
Punjab Horror: Ekta, a manager in US based company was in relationship with Anas Qureshi for the last four years.
Yesterday, Ekta’s body with her throat slit was recovered from her house. CCTV footage reveals, Anas killed her. @AamAadmiParty any fast for this? pic.twitter.com/A30VLi20tq
— Subhi Vishwakarma (@subhi_karma) April 7, 2024
By 7 am, Anas, driving recklessly, collided with another vehicle near Shahbad, Haryana, sustaining severe injuries to his head, back, legs, and arms.
The onlookers promptly alerted the authorities, leading to the swift intervention of the police. The injured Anas was promptly transported to a nearby hospital for urgent medical attention. However, due to his severe condition, doctors transferred him to GMCH, Chandigarh.
Meanwhile, the driver of the other vehicle involved in the collision was also hospitalised but is currently in stable condition, no longer in critical danger.
Unaware of the tragedy that had befallen, the family of the victim, still at a relative’s residence, received the startling news of their car’s involvement in an accident in Shahbad.
Disturbed by this unexpected information, they urgently inquired with the caller, an eyewitness to the accident, about the driver’s identity, suspecting it might have been Ekta. To their relief, they discovered that a man was driving the vehicle.
Subsequently, they attempted to contact the victim repeatedly but received no response. Concerned for her safety, the victim’s maternal uncle decided to return home to check on her well-being. Tragically, upon his arrival, he discovered her lifeless body lying beside a bed on the first floor of the house.
The devastated family promptly notified the authorities around 9:30 am. In response, a forensic team was swiftly dispatched to the scene to gather evidence, as reported by a police officer in the media.
The accused remains critical at Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, Chandigarh. While his parents lived in Moradabad, he lived with his two brothers in rented accommodation in Dadumajra, Chandigarh, and ran an eatery shop in the Sector 38 market.
The victim’s autopsy was conducted at the civil hospital in Mohali’s Phase 6. The report is awaited.
“Prima facie, he stabbed the victim in the right side of the neck with a knife kept in the house. As the wound was deep, he could have stabbed her repeatedly at the same point. The autopsy report will make things clear and also help ascertain the victim was sexually assaulted before being killed. There were no signs of struggle other than the stab wound on the neck,” the cop added.
The weapon used for the murder is yet to be recovered but it is assumed that it was the same knife from the house.
Police have taken the mobile phone of the victim in custody, while that of the accused has yet to be recovered.
“Police officials privy to the probe said as the victim used an Apple iPhone, the investigators were facing issues in gaining access to retrieve crucial data, including the text messages shared with the accused, who also uses a phone of the same company.
Organiser tried calling the aggrieved family but the calls went unanswered, we will update the report with their statement.
Notably, cases following this pattern where Muslim counterparts in a relationship have ended up killing their Hindu partners are not new, there is a spate of such cases.
Organiser reported a case from Ghaziabad, where an interfaith relationship turned tragic as Hindu woman Pinki Gupta was found dead under mysterious circumstances on August 31. Her family accused Sakib Khan, allegedly in a live-in relationship with her, prompting his arrest on abetment to suicide charges. Police are also probing a potential murder angle brd on the family’s statement. Pinki’s brother claimed she was a victim of grooming and love jihad, citing suspicious Instagram posts and a suicide note. The case, involving Sakib’s marital status, unfolds like a mystery.
In another tragic incident, a Hindu woman, Sonam Sharma, lost her life under mysterious circumstances in Hapur district, Uttar Pradesh, while in a relationship with Rahul alias Mohsin. Mohsin faces charges of abetment to suicide. This case adds to the pattern where Muslim men pose as Hindus to lure Hindu women for conversion, commonly termed ‘Love Jihad’ by the media.
Another interfaith relationship ended tragically in Madhya Pradesh’s Shivpuri, with the Hindu partner feeling cheated and desperate. A Hindu woman approached the Superintendent of Police office with her son, stating that her live-in partner, Mohammad Tipu, had abandoned her after eight years together, now that she has a child. The police are investigating her complaint. Previously, she had filed an FIR against Tipu for rape, but he settled the case outside of court after issuing repeated death threats.
On January 8, Shoaib Shaikh, 24, was arrested for allegedly murdering his Sikh girlfriend, Amit Kaur, 35, in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra. They met on a dating app three months prior. Shaikh strangled Amit on her birthday at a lodge in Turbhi due to suspicions of infidelity. He calmly left and returned home. The police discovered Amit’s body later.
