In Purnia’s Doodhi Bhitta village, a love story took a violent turn when on Monday a mob stormed the village, vandalizing and setting fire to three houses. The situation escalated after a young man from the village, Mohammad Mojim Ansari, eloped with a woman from a different community. Police forces from four stations were stationed to control the chaos, and the village is now under heavy security.
Mojim Ansari, a resident of Doodhi Bhitta, and a woman from Bardela had met about a year ago at the Dhamdaha market. Their friendship turned into a relationship, with phone calls and meetings over time. However, their relationship wasn’t accepted by the woman’s family due to differences in their communities.
On December 31, Mojim and the woman ran away, leaving their families behind. Furious, the woman’s family filed a kidnapping case against Mojim at the Dhamdaha police station.
The Court Steps In
On January 7, police recovered the couple and presented them in court the next day. During her statement under Section 164 of the CrPC, the woman revealed that she had gone with Mojim with mutual consent and wanted to stay with him. Both were declared adults, and the court allowed them to live together.
The Attack
A week after the court’s decision, a mob attacked Mojim’s family in Doodhi Bhitta. Around 100 unidentified people stormed the homes of Sharafat Ansari, Syed Ansari, and Hamid Ansari. They vandalized the property, torched belongings, and set three houses ablaze.
Sharafat Ansari, a member of the affected family, recalled the terrifying moments: “I was in the courtyard when they arrived. They broke everything, set the houses on fire, and left us with nothing. We barely escaped with our lives.”
Mojim’s mother, Mobina Bibi, suspects that the attack was orchestrated by the woman’s family.
This story was originally published in theobserverpost.com. Read the full story here.