Alleged love jihad: Police close to arresting couple accused of driving woman to suicide

Udupi: The suicide of 25-year-old Shilpa Devadiga due to an alleged case of love jihad is now hot on the track of the accused, Azeez and his wife Salma. According to the police sources they might be arrested on Monday.

Shilpa had committed suicide after Azeez allegedly sexually abused her and blackmailed her. Azeez allegedly threatened that he would post obscene photos of their intimate moments on social media if she did not convert to Islam. His wife Salma allegedly supported her husband's relationship with the victim. According to the anti-love jihad activists of the Udupi district, Salma wanted her husband to marry her and turn her into their domestic servant.

Another theory that is circulated by certain Hindu activists is that Azeez wanted to wean away at least one woman away from Hindu men so that she would not bear children for a Hindu family. They are preparing to file a complaint with the Human Rights Commission. Vishwa Hindu Parishad will hold a rally against love jihad and will bring pressure on the police to slap the stringent sections on Azeez and Salma. Two police teams were constituted by the district police when it was suspected that the couple were hiding in Kerala after images on Shilpa's phone revealed to her parents that she had an affair with Azeez for the previous three years. Shilpa worked in a Kundapur garment shop at the time, and it was around this time that Azeez had met her and promised to marry her. After developing a personal relationship with Shilpa and taking photos of their intimate moments, Azeez allegedly blackmailed her.