Guwahati Homestay Death: Accused's Mother Says Punish Him If Guilty
Mother of the accused in the Guwahati homestay death says her son should be punished if guilty, as police probe a suspected murder and the victim's family alleges assault.
The mother of a man arrested in connection with the death of a 22-year-old Gauhati University student at a homestay on the outskirts of Guwahati has said her son should face punishment if he is found guilty. Mohammad Asif Ali was taken into custody after the woman was found critically ill at the homestay in Garal and later declared dead at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital.
According to the police, Asif told investigators that the woman died by suicide. However, Guwahati West Deputy Commissioner of Police Bolin Deori said the claim was not being accepted. "We don't believe his version. We need to continue our investigation," he said, adding that the inquiry was at a preliminary stage and that the case was suspected to be a murder. He also noted that no blood was found on the body or the floor.
The woman's father has alleged that his daughter was gang-raped before being killed. "The marks on her body tell us that she was tortured before she was murdered," he said. He also said she called her mother around 2 am and told the family she was being assaulted, that she had been beaten and kicked in the chest and was struggling to breathe, and that people inside the room had locked the door. Deori said the woman was crying on the call and said, "They will kill me, Mom," after which her phone was possibly snatched. The family then set out to look for her while repeatedly calling her mobile phone.
Asif's parents, who earn a living as daily-wage labourers, said their son works as a painter and sometimes for the ride-hailing app Rapido. His father said the woman called Asif on Friday while he was resting and asked him to meet her, and that Asif suggested they meet in the evening. He said his son took her to the hospital and got her admitted with the help of security personnel, and that the two had been in a relationship for five years.
Asif's mother said she was aware of the relationship but did not support it because of religious differences, as the woman was Hindu and the family is Muslim. She said the woman visited their house once during Eid, when she told her that she was still studying and that Asif had studied up to the third semester of his BA, and explained that the relationship would not be accepted by their families. On the day of the incident, she said, her son was unwell and had been sleeping through the day before leaving the house in the evening, promising to return. He never came back, and the next morning brought news of his arrest. "If my son is guilty, he should be punished," she said, adding that the family wanted to know whether the woman had called her mother to say she was being tortured.