Youth attacked over love affair, critically injured

HYDERABAD: Close on the heels of two honour killings within the city limits in less than a month, a 24-year-old man sustained grave injuries after he was attacked by two men, who allegedly bore a grudge against the victim over his relationship with a girl, near Alkapur Township late Saturday night. The victim was identified as Syed Naseer, a cab driver.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Narsingi sub-inspector L. Samaram Reddy, investigating officer (IO) of the case, said the two accused, identified as Mohammad Naveed alias Chotu and Mohammed Akbar alias Banni, both mechanics from Narsingi, were taken into custody and a case was registered against them under Section 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC .

As per the preliminary enquiry, the police said, Naveed was close to a girl who later stopped talking to him and grew closer to Naseer. “Irked by their friendship, Naveed and Akbar hatched a plan to attack him,” police said. 

At around 11.30 pm, Naseer was at a pan shop located at Road No. 1 in Alkapuri Township when the other two confronted him. “As per the eyewitnesses, the three seemed to be talking normally before Chotu and Banni pulled out knives, which they carried with them already, and started attacking Naseer,” explained the official. “He was rushed to the hospital with grave stab wounds on his stomach. Once he speaks and gives a statement, we can shed light on the motive, connection between them etc,” said the officer. 

Doctors at Osmania General Hospital wanted to keep the victim under observation for 24 hours, said the official. 

Meanwhile, the incident was shared on social media platform as another hate crime, after the city witnessed two major murders this month. 

In the first case, Nagaraj was stabbed to death at Saroornagar earlier this month. The murderer was the brother of a Muslim girl, who married the victim, a Dalit.  In the second case, the city police arrested four persons, including a minor, for murdering a 22-year-old youth over an inter-caste love marriage on Saturday, a day after the victim, Neeraj Panwar, was hacked to death in full public view in the Begum Bazaar area.