In Assam, Facebook love story ends in triple murder, Himanta raises ‘love jihad’ red flag

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma visited Sanghamitra’s younger sister Ankita in Golaghat on Friday, and told the media afterwards that the incident shows “love jihad is a reality”.

Nazibur has been arrested and the child has been sent to a shelter home under the protection of the Child Welfare Committee, Superintendent of Police, Golaghat, Pushkin Jain said.

In what appears to have been a turbulent relationship, multiple cross-cases had been lodged by Nazibur, Sanghamitra and her parents against each other.

“They had frequent disputes and there were continuous cases registered against each other. There were also disputes over their child. On the day of the crime, he entered their house and, after another argument, attacked them with a sharp object,” the SP said.

According to police, the two met on Facebook in June 2020 while the country was under Covid lockdown. They left for Kolkata in October that year, after which Sanghamitra’s parents lodged an FIR against him in Golaghat police section under section 366 of the IPC – abducting a woman to forcefully compel her into marriage. She was brought back to Golaghat by her family but the two had already registered their marriage in a court in Kolkata.

Four months later, her parents lodged an FIR for theft against her, because of which she was arrested and placed in judicial custody for 37 days. After she was granted bail, she went back to live with her parents.

In January 2022, the couple once again left for Chennai together, and lived there for five months, said police. When they returned to Golaghat in August, she started living in her husband’s home and they had a baby in November.

Four months later, another case was registered against Nazibur – this time for allegedly physically abusing his wife. According to police, Sanghamitra returned to her parents’ home in March this year, alleging that she was being tortured by him, and yet another FIR was registered in this regard in Golaghat police station. As a result, he was arrested and placed in jail for 28 days.

Once he was released on bail, police said there were tensions between Sanghamitra’s and Nazibur’s families, as he kept insisting on meeting her and the child. At one point, Nazibur’s brother lodged an FIR against Sanghamitra and her family for allegedly assaulting Nazibur. The argument that resulted in the triple murder appeared to be a culmination of this dispute, said police.

Claiming that Nazibur had introduced himself to Sanghamitra on Facebook using a Hindu name and later introduced her to drugs, Chief Minister Sarma appealed to young women to “think many times” before marrying a person of another faith.

“I had been worried about this, of these kinds of incidents of hiding your identity on Facebook and getting girls to marry and in the end, such a situation is created that the girl cannot return. Or even if she returns, society does not accept. And in this kind of a situation, the girl ultimately converts and gives up everything. I appeal to our young women not to make friendships with men so easily on Facebook and other social media… And the people of one religion before marrying people of another religion should think about it many times. Because we begin with two different ways of life,” he said.

“When we talk of love jihad, a lot of people question us and ask where is love jihad? But this incident in Golaghat city shows that love jihad is a reality. The story in the movie Kerala Story is not false,” he added.

He also questioned the legitimacy of their marriage, saying it had been registered by a “kazi” and not through the Special Marriage Act.