Aliya Begum was excited about her upcoming Class 10 examinations—the 15-year-old wanted to fare better than her older brother. Begum, third among two daughters and two sons of Md Ismail and Shaheen Bee, was a student of the neighbourhood Urdu-medium Zilla Parishad High School in Telangana’s Sangareddy district. However, fate had different plans for her—she was killed after a quarrel between her father and their neighbours.
The incident occurred in Antharam village on February 11. Begum succumbed to her injuries on February 16 and the incident came to light only after civil society groups and a legislator visited the family on Monday. Their neighbours Kolluri Veera Reddy and Konyala Vijaya Reddy have been arrested and remanded in judicial custody.
Superintendent of Police Ch Rupesh said it was an unfortunate incident and not a planned murder. “It happened over a petty issue. The father of the deceased used to urinate in the open area adjacent to the house of the accused. It happened two or three times and finally escalated to such a situation. Both the accused have been arrested and remanded. The situation in the village is peaceful, and we have offered full support to the family of the deceased. There is no (communal) tension,” he told indianexpress.com.
Rupesh added that police have taken both communities into confidence and established a police picket in the village to prevent any untoward incidents.
According to the FIR in the case, when Mohammed Ismail went to relieve himself outside his house on February 11, the neighbours objected. The two houses are diagonally opposite and just about 50 m apart. The altercation and verbal abuses soon escalated into a physical fight. As Aliya intervened, the neighbours allegedly beat her and “threw big stones” at her after she was pushed to the ground. She was taken to a registered medical practitioner for first aid and then shifted to a private hospital, where she died five days later during treatment.
15-year-old Aliya Begum was excited for her Class 10 exams, hoping to do better than her brother. (Express Photo)
“They were drunk,” said the inconsolable father.
Begum’s elder sister, Haseena Anjum, said their father has been blaming himself for what happened.
Story continues below this ad
Ismail’s family is among the few Muslim families in Antharam, a village of 300 families that is about 100 km from Hyderabad. The family categorically denies any communal angle to the incident. Begum’s mother Shaheen Bee said the family and their neighbours had “very good relations in the past”, adding that she would never forgive them for what they did to her daughter.
“We live in harmony and there is no divide between different communities. It is an incident that happened in a fit of rage. The two accused were drinking. But they had no right to assault my daughter,” the mother said. “There is no pressure on us from anyone and no one is asking us to back off. We will not compromise. We want justice. Our daughter is gone, and we want the culprits to be punished severely,” the mother added.
Haseena Anjum said Begum was a good student and hoped to get a good job to take care of the family. “Her older brother Md Mahboob had secured a 9.2 CGPA in Class 10 and Aliya said she would do better than him. She was excited about the board exams and one step closer to her dreams,” said the sister.
The Munipally police have registered a case under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 103(1) (murder), 74 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 118(1) (causing hurt or grievous hurt using dangerous weapons or harmful substances), and 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), read with section 3(5) (vicarious liability in furtherance to shared intention).
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
