Muslim men initiating romantic associations with Hindu women, marrying them, converting them to Islam, putting them through endless agonies and finally killing them has become an everyday occurrence in India. The horror of these stories remains constant; what changes is the intensity of violence these women are made to endure during their partnership with these men.
Yet another shocking case of this has been reported from Kota in the western state of Rajasthan, India; a 26-year-old mother of three, Rizwana, was attacked and killed by her husband Imran in the middle of the street in broad daylight, because she had been staying away from him and seeking a divorce.
The deceased was originally a Hindu girl named Antima. She was a 15-year-old minor when she met and fell in love with welding worker Imran, and did a “love marriage” with him. Shortly after the marriage, she converted to Islam and adopted the name Rizwana. This marriage was never a smooth and loving one. But Antima, the ninth of ten siblings, held on to the marriage, hoping for things would improve gradually. The couple also had three children, but the arrival of their children didn’t change things for the better, either. In fact, as children were added to his family, Imran picked up the habit of whipping the children as well.
Imran, as reported by Antima’s sister Anita, was a drunkard who would physically assault his wife regularly, in fits of rage. Anita further notes that Imran would often burn Antima with cigarettes.
The sister of the deceased also told the media that Imran had once taken Antima to the popular Indian tourist destination Goa, and sold her off to the skin trade. With a great deal of effort, Antima somehow rescued herself. She then, however, made a disastrous decision: she chose to stay with Imran and give him another chance.
Her living conditions kept deteriorating, and the beating and battering only grew more frequent. Antima finally decided to walk away from this toxic marriage, and moved in with her elder sister. But Imran would call her and threaten her with dire consequences; her mother-in-law (Imran’s mother) would also harass her every day, according to Anita.
“A couple of months ago, Imran had ferociously attacked her with a cricket bat. The wounds Antima received from that beating were so critical that she had to be given 17 stitches,” adds Anita.
Antima stayed away from Imran for two years, but Imran continued to threaten her, and one day forcefully took her to his dwelling. This time he was more ferocious in his tortures of the hapless woman.
For the previous two months, Antima had been staying with her elder sister. On Wednesday, August 18, Antima was on her way to perform her regular chores when Imran ambushed her and repeatedly struck her with a sharp knife; he then fled the scene. Antima’s niece, who was accompanying Antima on her way, also sustained knife injuries in the mayhem. Locals rushed Antima to a local hospital. She was bleeding profusely from the multiple injuries she had received; her throat was slit as well. Doctors at the local hospital referred her to the New Medical College. Unfortunately, she was pronounced dead on arrival at the medical college. Antima met the same fate as hundreds of thousands of Hindu girls who are trapped in Love Jihad in India. The three children she has left behind are now orphaned.
This is the second known case of Hindu women being killed by Muslim partners in India this week. The first one was Diksha Mishra, who was killed by her lover, also named Imran, although he was pretending to be a Hindu, Rishabh Tiwari.
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