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Karnataka: Pregnant Muslim woman ‘burnt to death’ for marrying a Dalit
The woman eloped and married in Goa, but returned to her hometown after the ceremony.
A 21-year-old pregnant Muslim woman was allegedly burnt to death by her family for eloping and marrying a Dalit man in north Karnataka’s Vijayapura district, police said on Tuesday.
Banu Begum ran away from her home in Gundakanala village with her lover Sayabanna Konnur, who hails from the Valmiki caste two weeks ago, and the couple got married in Goa, police said.
Banu’s family was enraged and lodged a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act but police dropped the investigation as she was an adult. This further angered the woman’s relatives, police said.
The couple returned home last week but on Saturday, the woman’s family barged into their house and allegedly set her ablaze, police said. Konnur also sustained injuries in the incident and has been hospitalised.
“We have so far arrested, Banu’s mother Ramzanbi, her brother Akbar; sister Davalbi, and brother-in-law Jilani,” said superintendent of police Kuldeep Kumar Jain.
“We are still on the lookout for two other sisters of hers in connection with the incident,” Jain added.
