By Shankar Raj*
Bengaluru: A 25-year-old Dalit youth was allegedly murdered in Kalaburagi district of Karnataka over his romantic relationship with a Muslim woman. The police said that two people have been arrested in connection with the incident.
The deceased was identified as Vijay Kamble and preliminary reports by police indicated that the woman’s family was against their relationship.
The Superintendent of Police (SP) of Kalaburagi Isha Pant said Shahuddin and Nawaz have been arrested in connection with Vijay’s murder. The woman’s family members are also being questioned.
Vijay’s mother was quoted in the media as saying that her son’s girlfriend’s brother had threatened to cut off his head if he did not break off the relationship.
According to her, Vijay left the house after receiving a phone call. “I was wondering who he was talking to. After that, we didn’t hear from him. I got a call saying he was hit. I ran to him. They had stabbed him and hit him on the head,” she said.
Brother Raghavendra said “the girl’s brother had created a problem once. We had compromised back then. Don’t know what happened now. He [Vijay] wasn’t telling us anything. The girl was Muslim, we are Dalits. Once, we had compromised. This was sudden and I’m in shock,” he said.
*Shankar Raj is former Editor of The New Indian Express, Karnataka and Kerala, and writes regularly on current affairs.
