Father of a 17-year-old missing girl, on Sunday, threatened to self immolate after the police failed to trace the minor, who reportedly eloped with a 20-year-old man from the same village. Hundreds of villagers, on Sunday, gheraoed Mandar Police Station in protest of the police’s failure in tracing the girl.
“There is no point living if we have to compromise with our self respect. I will rather pour petrol on myself and set my body ablaze,” said the father of the missing girl.
Villagers told the police that the girl had an affair with 20-year-old Sahbaj Ansari and eloped with him on June 17. Her family lodged charges of abduction against the boy with the Mandar Police Station the next day. Police, however, failed to get any traces of the missing duo during investigation and claimed that the two might have fled Ranchi.
“We tried to trace the location of her mobile phone, but could not trace them. Police filed an FIR under IPC sections 363 (punishment for kidnapping),” in-charge of Mandar Police Startion Rana Jung Bahadur Singh said.
Cops at Mandar Police Station on Sunday had to pacify the villagers as they threatened to vandalize the police station to keep the situation under control.
The matter may also attract political attention as the man who eloped with the girl is from the minority community. While villagers have already started painting the incident with the ink of love jihad, police say that the matter was an ordinary love affair.
“I don’t care if it is a matter of love jihad or anything else, I only wants my daughter back,” said the father of the missing girl.
The issue of love jihad has hogged the attention of media in the past, especially after the case of ace archer Tara Shahdeo came to light here in 2015. Shahdeo had accused one Ranjit Kohli of forcibly marrying her and keeping her captivated in Ranchi.
The police on Sunday said that the incident may not have any links with the love jihad practice; however, the incident was serious as villagers are adamant to prove that the girl was abducted and she did not elope.