After local groups protested the event in light of the murder of Shraddha Walkar, authorities in the town of Vasai, Maharashtra, stopped the reception of a recently married Hindu-Muslim couple on Saturday. Both Walkar (27) and Aaftab Poonawala (her claimed live-in lover and the man arrested for her savage murder in May) are originally from the city of Vasai in the Palghar district, which is located close to Mumbai.
On Friday morning, an editor for a news network tweeted a photo of the event invitation with the hashtags "Love Jihad" and "Act Of Terrorism," connecting the invite to the murder of Ahmed Walkar.
A local police officer told PTI that the gathering was scheduled on Sunday night in a facility in the Vasai West neighbourhood. Local Hindu and Muslim organisations in Vasai contacted the hall owner and requested him to postpone the event after the tweet went viral, the official added, to preserve harmony in the community.
Local Hindu and Muslim organisations in Vasai contacted the hall owner and requested him to postpone the event after the tweet went viral, the official added, to preserve harmony in the community. Saturday, the couple's family went to the Manikpur police station to find out why the reception was postponed, he added.
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The official said that the lady, a Hindu, is 29 years old and that her husband, a Muslim, is 32. The parents of both parties were happy for the pair, and on November 17 they were legally married.
They informed police that around 200 people were anticipated to attend the celebration on Sunday. According to the official, there is no evidence of a "Love Jihad" component to this investigation. Some conservative groups have claimed, under the banner of "Love Jihad," that there is an effort afoot to wed Hindu women to Muslim men in order to convert them to Islam.
