The price of saying ‘no’: On the murder of Haryana college student Nikita Tomar
[ad_1]
Last week, Nikita Tomar was shot lifeless by her schoolmate, Tausif, who was upset at her refusal to marry him. The case has not solely put the highlight on stalking, however has additionally led to a communal flare-up in Faridabad. Ashok Kumar stories on the distraught household of the sufferer and the politically linked household of the accused
At round 3:30 p.m. on October 26, Nikita Tomar — 20, studious and impressive — stood exterior the sprawling campus of Aggarwal College in Ballabgarh, quickly after writing an examination, and waited for her brother to choose her up. Giving her firm had been two buddies. Winter was simply setting in and it was a pleasing day.
But chilling occasions had been to comply with inside minutes, captured in 23 seconds of closed-circuit tv footage that later went viral on social media. Tausif, Nikita’s former schoolmate, and his buddy and classmate, Rehan, are seen arriving in a Sedan. Tausif, simply shy of 21 and his face coated in a white masks, tries to push Nikita into the automobile, however she manages to free herself from his clutches and conceal behind her buddy. Tausif pushes the buddy apart and catches maintain of Nikita. A short wrestle ensues. A person strolls previous speaking on the telephone; one other cycles down the highway slowly. They see what’s happening, however don’t intervene. Suddenly, Tausif brings out a gun and shoots her point-blank. The bullet hits Nikita in the nape of her neck and he or she collapses to the floor. Nikita’s buddy is transfixed, after which turns this fashion and that. A bike whizzes previous, however doesn’t cease. Rehan runs in direction of Tausif and grabs him. Both of them, undergraduate college students of physiotherapy at Gurugram University, make a touch for the automobile, scramble into it, and drive away.
Nikita Tomar murder case | Faridabad Police file 700-page cost sheet
Nikita’s grief-stricken father Moolchand Tomar says his daughter had informed him that Tausif had referred to as her per week earlier than the incident. “She told me that he wanted her to convert and marry him. I promised that I would talk to his family about it and told her not to worry. But she did not reveal much. She may have been under a lot of pressure. I will never know. After the 2018 kidnapping incident, she did not want to trouble me any more by talking about him,” he says.
Nikita Tomar’s murder has but once more shocked a nation the place circumstances of stalking are frequent. However, the outrage this time hasn’t all the time centred on the security of ladies basically. Citing this case, the Harayana authorities is mulling a regulation in opposition to ‘love jihad’, the communal slur used to focus on inter-faith relationships wherein the man is Muslim.
An examination and a murder
Tomar, 48, is seated on a mattress at a condolence assembly for Nikita on the avenue exterior his Sector 23 Faridabad home in Haryana. On the wall behind him, plastered throughout a door and a window, is a big banner that includes Nikita’s photograph and a lamp. It reads: ‘Lado hum sharminda hain tere kaatil zinda hain. Haryana sarkaar hosh mein aao. Hatyaro ko phansi do (My dear, we are ashamed that your killers are still alive. Haryana government, come to your senses. Hang the killers). India wants justice for Nikita Tomar.’
Another banner throughout one other window says Nikita was “shot dead by Tausif in broad daylight for refusing to convert and marry him”. Just beneath it, Nikita’s {photograph} with a garland round the body is precariously balanced on a stool mounted on a gray plastic chair. The chair leans in opposition to a wall that has giant patches of recent plaster and fading paint.
Tomar recollects the morning of that fateful day. He says he left for work round 7:30 a.m. Nikita, who had been making ready for the examination until round 2:30 a.m., was nonetheless asleep. “I called my wife around 8:30 a.m. She told me that Nikita was studying after taking a bath and eating breakfast. I didn’t want to disturb her, so I didn’t speak to her over the phone,” he says.
Editorial | Uncivil proposal: On legal guidelines to curb ‘love jihad’
Around midday, Nikita’s brother Naveen and mom Vijaywati dropped her at the examination centre, the Aggarwal College, and went buying. Nikita’s uncle’s home was a stone’s throw away from the college. “Nikita came out of the college after the exam and called Naveen to come over and pick her up,” recounts Tomar. “A few minutes later, I got a call from her friend saying Nikita had been shot. Since I was far away, I asked my brother-in-law to rush there immediately. Something was terribly wrong, I told him.”
Shattered desires
After Nikita was shot, some college students picked her up and took her on a two-wheeler to Manavta Hospital, the place she died throughout remedy. “By the time I reached the hospital, the staff told me that her body had been sent to Badshah Khan Hospital for post-mortem,” says Tomar, his voice cracking. “I could not even speak to her one last time.”
The killer ruined their lives “in just 20 seconds,” he says. “All our dreams are shattered. All her certificates and medals are now useless. Her mother has not even gone to her room since the incident. Her clothes, books… everything reminds us of her. Her mother cannot face it,” he says.
“Hamare liye gudiya thi (She was our doll). She was a reserved and studious girl. She loved me the most. Nikita would hug me when I returned from work in the evening. Like a little child, she would share all the details of her day with me,” Tomar says, surrounded by neighbours and his father-in-law.
Moolchand Tomar, father of Nikita Tomar who was shot lifeless exterior Aggarwal College in Haryana’s Ballabgarh, and his kinfolk and buddies sit exterior his home demanding capital punishment for the accused.
| Photo Credit:
R.V. Moorthy
A era in the past, the Tomars had shifted from Uttar Pradesh to Faridabad. Tomar offered the ancestral home a couple of years in the past to borrow a mortgage and assemble a brand new home, the one they dwell in now. As he wished a great schooling for his youngsters, he constructed the home close to the important highway the place environment friendly transport services might take them to high school rapidly. “I ensured good education for them even if I had to go without food,” says Tomar.
He recollects how Nikita was a motivated girl and all the time strived to excel. “Inspired by her maternal uncles and grandfather, she wanted to join the Army. Sometimes she dreamt of becoming a civil servant. She would often say that she would be so powerful one day that her orders would be final and binding on all.” Tomar hopes {that a} college or a college is called after Nikita who “laid down her life to protect her dignity”.
Allegedly kidnapped earlier
Nikita was round 17 years outdated when she first met Tausif, a resident of Gurugram’s Sohna. Tausif comes from a household of politicians in Nuh, situated about 70 km from Delhi. Nikita and Tausif met whereas finding out at the Rawal International School, Nangla, in Faridabad. Tausif was a 12 months senior to her. Nikita was a day scholar and Tausif stayed in the hostel. Nikita’s household vehemently denies that she preferred Tausif. “I have no clue how he entered my daughter’s life,” says Tomar.
Tausif’s maternal uncle, Islamuddin, was arrested 4 years in the past in reference to a spate of robberies throughout a number of States. He was additionally concerned in the 2016 abduction of Inspector Surender Singh Phogat, who was then Station House Officer of Sector 29 police station. Phogat was kidnapped, robbed and dumped in Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh. Islamuddin, lodged in Gurugram’s Bhondsi Jail, is now out on parole for a household operate. Tausif’s step-cousin Aftab Ahmed, a former Haryana Transport Minister, is a Congress MLA from Nuh. His uncle Javed Ahmad has contested twice, albeit unsuccessfully, on a Bahujan Samaj Party ticket from Sohna.
The spot the place Nikita Tomar was shot exterior the Agarwal College in Harynana’s Ballabgarh.
| Photo Credit:
R.V. Moorthy
The two households obtained concerned of their teenaged youngsters’s private lives for the first time two years in the past when Tausif allegedly kidnapped Nikita from exterior Aggarwal College. The matter reached the police. The First Information Report of the incident, accessed by The Puucho, says Nikita was about to board an auto-rickshaw to her home on the night of August 2, 2018, when Tausif kidnapped her. Nikita knowledgeable her buddy Abhishek about it, who in flip referred to as up her father. A case was registered beneath Section 365 of the Indian Penal Code at the Ballabgarh City police station.
The Tomars had been later pressured to withdraw the criticism owing to social and political strain and mediation by the police. Tomar recollects that he determined to do that after the two households had a gathering. He says he didn’t know the household earlier than the incident. Nikita gave in writing to the police that she had gone with Tausif of her personal volition and the FIR was quashed. “They (Tausif’s family) apologised to us. They assured us that this would not happen again. Also, a poor electrician like me could not stand up against a mighty family like that with a long political and criminal record. I am a man with limited means, whereas they have a lot of wealth. Besides, Nikita was a good student. I did not want her to go from court to court. It was a question of her life. In our society, we also need to think about the girl’s esteem,” says Tomar.
For virtually a 12 months after the incident, Nikita’s mom and brother accompanied her each time she stepped out. Gradually, they put the incident behind them and normalcy returned. “Nikita was not on social media, so there was no question of anyone stalking her online. For almost two years after the incident, we never faced any problem from him (Tausif),” says Tomar.
Also learn | 10 policemen injured in Ballabgarh violence
Tomar is now remorseful about closing that case. “I have regrets. But even if I am put in a similar situation today, what choice would I have? I cannot fight the bahubalis (musclemen),” he says.
Three arrests
Tausif, who was arrested a couple of hours after the incident, has no regrets, says the police. “It was a premeditated, cold-blooded murder,” says Faridabad Police Commissioner O.P. Singh. “The psychology behind it is the same as in most stalking incidents: Meri nahi to kisi ki nahi (If she is not mine, then she can’t be anyone else’s).” The 700-page cost sheet citing 60 witnesses was filed in court docket on November 6.
Though there is no such thing as a proof of Tausif stalking the lady after the 2018 kidnapping incident, cellular data present his location round the college on a pair of events per week earlier than the murder. “He recced the area before the murder,” says Singh.
Rehan was arrested a day after the incident. Azharuddin alias Azru was additionally arrested on prices of supplying the country-made pistol utilized in the murder. According to the police, Azru is a detailed acquaintance of Islamuddin. Tausif additionally knew Azru nicely. “We have a strong case against the accused with digital and forensic evidence and some eyewitnesses. The CCTV footage of the incident is the most clinching evidence. The weapon and the car used in the commission of the crime have also been recovered,” says Singh.
Keeping in view the public outrage over the murder and the media consideration, the Faridabad Police arrange a Special Investigation Team, led by Assistant Commissioner of Police Anil Kumar, to research the matter. Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij introduced {that a} fast-track court docket can be arrange for day-to-day listening to and fast disposal of the case. The Faridabad Police have additionally moved the native court docket looking for to re-open the 2018 kidnapping case.
Tausif’s household maintains that they don’t approve of the unlawful act and the regulation should take its personal course. Tausif’s mom claims that her son was a superb student who stood first in school. “After the 2018 incident, he never spoke to anyone in the family about the girl. He got admission into an MBBS course at a college in Bengaluru, but did not go. He did not want to go that far away for a course. He is very shy and docile. I don’t know why he did this,” she says. She claims that Tausif didn’t kidnap the lady and that Nikita went on her personal with him and was taken again by her maternal uncle later.
Political and communal colors
The case of a Muslim man stalking and taking pictures a Puucho lady has additionally develop into an ideal recipe for communal flare-up in the area. Just a day after the incident, a number of Hindutva organisations, together with the Karni Sena (the Tomars are Rajputs), began utilizing the instance of this case to as soon as once more speak about ‘love jihad’. For a couple of days, the sufferer’s home was utilized by numerous organisations to carry demonstrations and protests looking for justice for the lady. But in these occasions, the drawback of stalking wasn’t the focus.
One such demonstration was held by a bunch referred to as the Sarv Biradari Sangathan on Dussehra Ground on November 1. Thousands participated in it. The crowd turned violent when round 200 younger males, agitated over the flip of occasions at the panchayat, threw stones at retailers and the police, and tried to dam National Highway-44 (connecting New Delhi with Agra). Ten policemen had been injured in the conflict with the mob and 32 individuals had been arrested. Investigation into the violence revealed that inflammatory and provocative messages had been unfold via Whatsapp teams and different social media platforms.
As the prime accused in the case is said to Congress MLA Aftab Ahmed, the incident has additionally assumed political hues. The get together’s State chief, Kumari Selja, allegedly encountered misbehaviour when she went to Nikita’s household’s home to supply her condolences. An FIR was filed on this connection on prices of misbehaviour, wrongful restraint, and legal intimidation by Faridabad Municipal Corporation member Jaiveer Khatana. He later filed a counter FIR accusing Congress staff of resorting to violence in opposition to him throughout Selja’s go to.
The drawback of stalking
Two-time Rashtriya Gaurav Gram Sabha Puraskar winner Sunil Jaglan, additionally identified for the ‘Selfie With Daughter’ marketing campaign, says stalking lies at the core of most circumstances of heinous crime in opposition to ladies, resembling rape, murder and acid assaults. “It all begins with stalking, but mostly, the girl and her parents tend to ignore it. They either don’t take it seriously or prefer to keep mum for the sake of social prestige. In a conservative society like ours, reporting such cases leads to loss of social reputation for the victim more than the perpetrator,” says Jaglan, who can also be an adviser in the Pranab Mukherjee Foundation.
Also learn | The stalking college of wooing
Working in Nuh on points regarding ladies and ladies, Jaglan says dad and mom in the area don’t ship their daughters to colleges which might be situated far-off as they concern their daughters will probably be stalked. “If a girl tells her parents about being stalked, they tell her to quit school and sit at home,” says Jaglan. Stalking isn’t about faith, he says. Girls are stalked by boys from their very own faith and village, too. The police don’t take stalking circumstances severely until a extra henious crime is dedicated, since most of the time the two events attain a compromise, he says.
Social media has made it simpler to stalk an individual. “However, in a predominantly rural area such as Nuh, online stalking is not prevalent. It is more common in cities like Faridabad and Gurugram. Social media makes it possible even for older men to stalk young women with the benefit of anonymity,” he says. “We need to communicate more and more with our children, especially during their teenage years. We should speak not just to girls, but also boys to guide them through their most difficult years,” says Jaglan.
Comment | An odd leniency to ‘minor’ sexual offences
Tomar agrees that this isn’t about faith. Tired of sitting on a mattress for lengthy hours, he presses his again in opposition to the wall to appropriate his posture. “How can a girl be shot dead simply for saying ‘no’? The parents of many girls in our locality are in shock after the incident. They are scared to send their daughters to school. They asked me whether they are bringing up their daughters only to see them being killed like this one day. It is not about Hindus or Muslims. We need a stringent law so that these obsessive stalkers don’t even dare to look at our daughters. Even in this case, when the police have such clinching evidence, why can’t the court decide the matter in a couple of days?” That is the query that retains his thoughts occupied all day.
[ad_2]
