A silent march in Maharashtra's Nashik against 'love Jihad'

New Delhi, Nov 28: Activists of different Hindu organisations carried out a silent march in Maharashtra's Nashik city on Monday demanding to stop 'love jihad' and a capital punishment for the killer of Shraddha Walkar murder.

Clad in saffron outfits, a large number of people took the silent protest 'Virat Hindu Muk Morcha' (mega silent march) which also had the participation of women. The march was started from a school in Shalimar suburb and passed through a number of city areas, according to a report in PTI.

The people, who participated in the match, made several demands, including a law against religious conversion and "love jihad", capital punishment for Poonawala, strict implementation of the cow slaughter ban and stringent action against those insulting Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

"We demand capital punishment for Poonawala, accused in the case of murder of Shraddha Walkar," PTI quoted Ram Singh Bawri, national president of the Hindu Ekta Andolan Party as saying.

"The government should take steps that 'love jihad' does not happen. The girls who have become victims of 'love jihad' should be saved. We also demand implementation of the Uniform Civil Code in the country," he said.

'Love jihad' is a usually used by right-wing groups to allege a concerted effort by Muslim men to convert Hindu women to Islam through marriage.

Shraddha Case

Shraddha Walkar was murdered by her live-in partner Aftab Amin Poonawala in May 18 but the incident came to light a few weeks ago. Against her father's will, she left her Mumbai home to be with him in Delhi.

They had met through a dating app in 2019. Her father had objected to her inter-religion relationship. After she left home, he had cut off all the ties.

Aftab was arrested on November 12 after her father Vikas Walkar filed a complaint against his missing daughter after which the former was arrested by the Delhi cops.

During the interrogation, he confessed that her strangled to death, cut her body into pieces and disposed of it in a forest.

Love Jihad Angle in Shraddha Case

Her father suspects a 'love jihad' angle behind the killing of his daughter by her partner Aftab Amin Poonawala.

"I suspected a love jihad angle. We demand the death penalty for Aftab. I trust Delhi Police and the probe moving in the right direction. Shraddha was close to her uncle and didn't talk to me much," ANI qutoed Vikas Walker as saying. He also has stated that he was never in touch with Aftab and first lodged the complaint in Vasai in Mumbai after she was untraceble.

Meanwhile, the Delhi police has now recovered a gold ring that belonged to Shraddha Walkar and Aftab Amin Poonawala allegedly gifted it to another girl, a psychologist whom he had befriended through a dating app and taken to the flat, news agency ANI reported.

During the interrogation, the woman told the police that the ring was gifted to her by Aftab when she had visited his place.

Police said Aftab came in contact with the woman, a psychologist, on the same dating app Bumble where he had also met Shraddha and called her to his residence, as reported by PTI. The pieces of Walkar's body were kept inside the refrigerator when he called the psychologist at his place.