In a vile and putrid display of religious extremism, a young Muslim girl was burnt alive for refusing to forcibly marry a Hindu man.
The abhorrent incident took place in District Wishali of Bihar where three Hindu men threw kerosene on the defenseless woman and setting her ablaze in a blood-curdling act of barbarism.
The girl, 20-year-old Gulnaz had reportedly refused to marry a boy called Satish who had constantly harassed her for months to marry him.
Gulnaz couldn’t sustain her injuries and died at the hospital, in a recorded statement before her unfortunate death, she testified that Satish had been forcing her to marry him against her will and she did not want to marry him as she was a Muslim and him a Hindu.
Gulnaz was cornered outside her house by unidentified men when she ventured out to dispose garbage, it was later revealed that Gulnaz was dragged by her hair and then put on fire, one of the men involved in the atrocious act was allegedly Satish’s father.
75% of Gulnaz’s body was completely burnt and chances of her survival were minimal. The victim’s family has claimed that Satish himself was also involved in carrying out the heinous act.
Gulnaz’s video statement from her deathbed had gone viral in India, the perpetrators roamed free and the police could care less about the case before the societal upheaval against the grave injustice.
No arrests have been made in relation to the case, two weeks have already elapsed since the case was first brought to light.
Discussion is rampant that the inaction from law enforcement is due to India’s harsh stance on a phenomenon they call ‘Love Jihad’, an Islamophobic theory alleging that Muslim men target women belonging to non-Muslim communities for conversion to Islam by feigning love.