The victim’s body was found in a river two days after she went missing from her home; police claim death was caused by drowning
Waquar Hasan | Clarion India
NEW DELHI — The body of a 16-year-old Muslim girl, Shama Parveen, was found in a river two days after she went missing from her home in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. Her family alleges she was murdered by a stalker from their village.
On March 11, Shama Parveen, a Class 12 student, went missing from her village of Bhimawala. Her body, bearing injury marks, was found in the Yamuna River on March 13.
According to a complaint filed by her father, Mahmood Hasan, one Vinod Kumar from their village had forcibly taken her away from her home at night after making all family members unconscious by mixing drugs in their tea cups.
“He had sent tea mixed with drugs to our house to make all of us unconscious. When my family fell unconscious, Vinod forcibly took away my daughter with him. When we searched for her, we found her dead body near Dhakrani Power House,” reads the complaint filed with Kotwal police station.
“Vinod killed my daughter and threw the body into the river. In the past too, Vinod had taken away my daughter from her school. When I complained at that time, the police had warned Vinod. At that time, Vinod had threatened by stating that he would make my daughter disappear,” he added.
Speaking to Clarion India over the phone, Hasan, an e-rickshaw driver, said Vinod, in 2023, had threatened him regarding his daughter after he reported the accused’s objectionable activities to the police.
“The day my daughter went missing, Vinod was loitering around my house. He had sent drugs to our home through a child. When I confronted him about her disappearance, he denied knowing anything. We searched for her the entire night but couldn’t find her. The next morning, we filed a missing person’s complaint at the Kotwali police station,” he said.
The police were also unable to find her during the search operation. Later, following the police’s suggestion, the family searched the nearby river.
“We found her body in the river. There were marks on her face suggesting she had been muffled. Her neck was fractured, and there was no water in her lungs. If she had drowned, there would have been water in her lungs. This indicates that she was killed before being thrown into the river,” said Hasan.
Citing the postmortem report, the local police informed the family that the girl died from drowning in the river. However, her father maintained that his daughter was murdered.
Meanwhile, the police have arrested two suspects, including Vinod, in connection with the case.
“My daughter was being lured by this man. He hasn’t given us any explanation for why he murdered her, but he may have told the police something,” said her father.
Hasan demanded severe punishment for the accused, stating that even if his own son were guilty of such a crime, he would demand the same. “Such an incident could happen to any woman,” he added.
The Muslim Seva Sangathan, a group based in Uttarakhand, is speaking out in support of the victim’s family. Saddam Qureshi, the group’s general secretary, told Clarion India that the police initially arrested Vinod and two others but later released them. The police had assured they would arrest the accused again the following day, and they were subsequently re-arrested.”
He pointed out that the girl had been in a relationship with the accused, who had lured her into his trap.
The Station House Officer (SHO) at Kotwali police station told Clarion India that while the family wants to press murder charges against the accused, there is no clear evidence of foul play at this stage. “It doesn’t appear to be a murder,” the officer stated.
The accused claimed he had not met the girl on the day of the incident.
“I don’t know how she was deceived by his words. She was emotionally attached to him, but legally, this becomes unacceptable, as the girl was a 16-year-old minor,” the officer added.
