Himanta Sarma raises Mehrauli killing issue, demands law against 'Love Jihad'

New Delhi, Nov 20: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday demanded a stringent law against "Love Jihad" as he raised the issue of the gruesome Mehrauli killing while campaigning for the municipal polls in northeast Delhi which was struck by communal riots in 2020.

"Love Jihad" is a term often used by the BJP and Hindu right-wing leaders to refer to illegal religious conversions allegedly through force or deceit.

As the country has got a law against triple talaq, "we need a law against Love Jihad and also for a common civil code", Sarma said during the BJP's 'Vijay Sankalp' roadshow in northeast Delhi's Ghonda area for the December 4 Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) polls.

He also appealed to people to shun "anti-Hindu and corrupt leaders such as (Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convener) Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia", alleging they were symbols of "division in society" and not development.

Raising the Mehrauli murder case, he said, "You saw a few days ago that a person Aaftab cut Shraddha into 35 pieces. Love Jihad about which we used to read in newspapers has now reached our cities and metros." Aaftab Poonawala allegedly strangled Shraddha Walkar, 27, on May 18 and sawed her body into nearly three dozen pieces which he kept in a 300-litre fridge for almost three weeks at his residence in south Delhi's Mehrauli before dumping them across the city over several days.

People should vote for the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make the country strong, the Assam chief minister, who was joined in the roadshow by North East Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari and other party leaders, said.

Voting for 250 wards of the MCD will be held on December 4 and results will be announced after counting of votes on December 7.