Tunisha Sharma case should be probed from 'love jihad' angle, says BJP MLA Atul Bhatkhalkar

New Delhi, Dec 28: Bharatiya Janta Party MLA from Maharashtra Atul Bhatkhalkar on Wednesday demanded that a probe be conducted from 'love jihad' angle into the case of actor Tunisha Sharma's death, in which her co-star Sheezan Khan has been arrested.

The demand comes days after Maharashtra minister and BJP leader Girish Mahajan alleged the death of Sharma was a matter of 'love jihad' and that the state was planning to bring a strict law to curb such incidents.

"The police should probe the matter from the angle of love jihad," Bhatkhalkar told PTI in the Vidhan Bhavan complex in Nagpur where the winter session of the state legislature is currently underway. ''Love jihad'' is a term often used by right-wing activists to allege a ploy by Muslim men to lure Hindu women into religious conversion through marriage.

20-year-old Tunisha Sharma, who acted in the show 'Ali Baba: Dastaan-E-Kabul', was found dead on the sets of a television show following which a case of abetment to suicide was lodged. The case of abetment was registered against Sheezan.

Khan (27) was arrested on Sunday on the charge of abetting her suicide. Both were in a relationship. They broke up 15 days before Tunisha Sharma's death last week.

Sharma's mother on Monday alleged Khan had cheated and 'used' her daughter for three to four months.

The deceased actor had featured in the TV show 'Bharat Ka Veer Putra Maharana Pratap' and films like 'Fitoor' and 'Baar Baar Dekho'.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had last week said the government would study laws on ''love jihad'' framed by other states and take an appropriate decision.

Love Jihad cases are those where a Muslim boy traps a Hindu girl into having a relationship and then insisting that she convert to Islam. The topic has been a hot one and several such cases including the Shraddha Walkar murder have been termed as Love Jihad. The cases of Love Jihad were reported in large numbers in Kerala. It was found in the Islamic State case that several Hindu and Christian girls had converted to Islam before leaving for Afghanistan to join the Islamic State.