A 21-year-old college student, Nikita Tomar, was fatally shot in Haryana's Ballabhgarh area in broad daylight on Monday while she was returning home from college. A video of the incident has gone viral on the internet.
The police have arrested two persons in connection with the case. The main accused has been identified as Touseef who is a resident of Sona Road in Gurugram, while the other accused has been identified as Rehan who is a resident of Nuh district of Haryana, the police said.
Meanwhile, Touseef has confessed to killing Nikita Tomar during the police interrogation. According to an India Today report, Touseef has said that he murdered Nikita to exact revenge for his earlier arrest in 2018. I couldn't study medicine because I was arrested. And hence I took revenge, he said. The same report mentions that Touseef told the police that he killed Nikita Tomar because she was about to get married to someone else.
Reportedly, Touseef was arrested in 2018 for harassing Nikita for marriage and kidnapping her. Nikita's family had filed an FIR against Touseef, however, after talks in a panchayat, the matter was settled, Nikita's brother told India Today.
During the interrogation, it was also revealed that the accused and the victim had had a phone conversation for more than 16 minutes a day before the incident.
Meanwhile, Nikita's family has alleged that the incident was linked to love jihad and claimed Touseef wanted her to convert to Islam and marry him. However, Touseef's uncle has on Tuesday said that there was no question of love jihad. He condemned the incident and said that it was unfortunate. He added that he did not know about the weapon in Touseef's possession. He said, We respect all religions. There is no question of love jihad.
After the incident, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala slammed the Khattar government over the law and order situation in the state. During the past two years, there has been a 45 per cent increase in crime against women in Haryana. In gangrape incidents, Haryana is at the top, he claimed.
The chief minister should feel ashamed, the BJP-JJP should feel ashamed. Can our daughters not reach their homes safely after appearing in examinations, he asked.
He appealed to the Khattar government to take stringent action against the criminals. Otherwise, newspapers will be filled with such news each day. This government does not have any moral right to stay in power for another day, the Congress leader said.
Meanwhile, Union Minister of State and Faridabad MP K P Gurjar and Haryana's Transport Minister Mool Chand Sharma, who is BJP MLA from Ballabgarh, told reporters that the accused will be dealt as per law.