Row over interfaith marriage boils over in southeast Delhi

New Delhi: Mayhem erupted in a locality in southeast Delhi’s Sarai Kale Khan after over a dozen men forcibly entered the house of a 21-year-old youth on Saturday night after coming to know that he had married a girl from another community.
The incident was captured on CCTV cameras. Paramilitary forces were deployed to defuse the tension in the area. The couple has been shifted to a safe location. Police said they were in talks with people from both the communities and were trying to pacify them.The elderly and religious leaders from both sides had been roped in to thwart any untoward incident.
A case of rioting and other sections of IPC has been registered at Sunlight Colony police station and four people — Farman, Shahrukh, Hasan Ali and Raza — were arrested till Sunday evening. Farman, the girl’s brother, planned the attack as he was outraged with the interfaith marriage. The cops are still looking for 6-7 men who were visible in the CCTV footage.
DCP (Southeast) RP Meena said the PCR received a call regarding the chaos around 11pm on March 20. “After senior officers went to the spot, they found that the couple, who both lived in the locality, got married against the will of their parents. The girl’s relatives came to the boy’s lane and damaged vehicles, etc,” he added.
The residents of the lane said they were terrified after the incident and feared for their life. One of the youth’s relatives said that the couple got married in a temple on March 14 despite objections by the girl’s family.
“The girl’s family had fixed her marriage with someone else. She was under no pressure and herself went to police to give a statement that she married the boy of her own will,” said a relative of the youth. Police were also provided with the marriage certificate and photos of the couple during the ceremony.
The family members of the girl accused the youth of having converted her to Hinduism and threatened him with dire consequences. On Sunday night, they vandalised the houses of the youth and others in the neighbourhood.
In the CCTV footage, a mob could be seen going on a rampage, throwing away ladders and cycles on the ground, forcibly opening the gates of houses and pelting stones. Locals residents alleged that they were attacked with sticks and swords.