Lockdown love story on Facebook ends in triple murder in Assam, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma calls it 'love jihad'

Nazibur was arrested in March this year and was send to judicial custody after Sanghamitra lodged an FIR alleging harassment.

A love story, which began on Facebook during the Covid-19 lockdown, ended in a gruesome triple murder case in eastern Assam's Golaghat district.

A 25-year-old mechanical engineer, Nazibur Rahman Bora, who allegedly identified himself as a Hindu boy on Facebook and befriended Sanghamitra Ghosh, a Hindu girl during the lockdown in June 2020 and later got married, murdered her and her parents in Golaghat on Monday. The accused fled with the child but later surrendered in a police station.
The couple has an eight-month-old son.

Police said Nazibur was arrested in March this year and was sent to judicial custody after Sanghamitra lodged an FIR alleging harassment by him and his family in Golaghat. She returned to her parents' house in Golaghat. The accused was released on bail after 28 days and he committed the murders on Monday.

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Police, however, revealed details of the case on Wednesday morning.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who visited the victims' family in Golaghat on Wednesday morning, called it a case of "love jihad" as the Muslim boy identified himself as a Hindu on Facebook, befriended her and later forced her to convert. The CM said the state government would pitch for trial in a fast track court for early punishment to the accused.

Nazibur did his mechanical engineering from Central Institute of Technology, Kolkata.

Giving details of the incident, director general of police, GP Singh said the accused was in Golaghat when their love story began.

"In October 2020, they both fled to Kolkata and parents of Sanghamitra lodged an FIR at Golaghat police station. The girl was recovered from Kolkata by Golaghat police. But they had performed a court marriage in Kolkata," Singh said in a tweet. Police, however, are verifying the marriage certificate.

On March 6, 2021, parents of Sanghamitra, Sanjeeb and Junu Ghosh lodged an FIR against their daughter alleging that she had stolen some items from their residence. Sanghamitra was arrested and was in judicial custody for 37 days. She, interestingly, came back to her parents after getting bail and stayed with them.

But in January last year, Sanghamitra and Nazibur again fled to Chennai and stayed there for five months and she became pregnant there. They returned to Golaghat in August and started living in the residence of the accused. "In March, Sanghamitra left Nazihur's house and returned to her parents as she was facing torture there. She lodged an FIR against Nazibur in Golaghat on March 21."

A case of "love jihad"

CM Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday said the investigation carried out so far "made it clear that it was a case of love jihad." "The boy kept his religious identity hidden and even forced her to convert. I have been alerting people for a long about love jihad incidents in Assam. This incident has once again proved that love jihad is a reality in Assam. I request our parents to keep watch and save their daughters from the trap of such incidents. I also appeal to the young girls to be very careful and not to take a major decision of their life (marriage) with people whom they get introduced with on social media platforms like Facebook," Sarma said while promising steps for justice.