– Mohammed Atherulla Shariff
Bengaluru, Dec. 4: Even if the imagination of anyone’s lowest level of human feelings is stretched, it’s difficult to fit the celebration of a gruesome murder of four members of a family, anywhere.
Sadly, it happened in the infamous Udupi district of Karnataka.
Praveen Chougule (39), a cabin crew of Air India Express admittedly murdered his young colleague Ainaz (21), her mother Hasina (48), sister Afshan (23) and brother Aseem (14) at one shot in Nejar of Udupi district.
Some people are proud of him to have hacked four Muslims so quickly. They celebrated the multiple murder as a ‘world record in 15 minutes’.
Ainaz worked with Praveen as a cabin crew and supposedly, the latter had a deep personal connection with her. It is suspected that unreciprocated love could be one of the reasons behind the brutal murder.
It is also reported, the main target was Ainaz who had declined his advances towards her. But her family members who had tried to protect Ainaz were also murdered. Another reason for the horrific killing of other members seemed to eliminate the witnesses.
Another victim Hajeera, the grandmother of Ainaz, has suffered serious stab injuries and is admitted to hospital.
Chougule, currently in police custody for 14 days, is alleged to have meticulously planned the crime. He strategically parked his car before a toll gate to avoid CCTV detection and attacked the victims.
Superintendent of Police Dr K Arun said that the four were murdered by stabbing. An investigation is in progress to ascertain the cause of the murders. No valuables have been stolen from the house. The investigation will be carried out from all angles, he said.
Meanwhile, Noor Mohammed, the father of Ainaz who was working in Gulf rushed back home, only to attend the last rites of his lost family. He has appealed to the state government for a fast-track trial in the case.
In a memorandum submitted to Women and Child Development Minister, who is also District-in-Charge Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar, Noor Mohammed and his wife Haseena’s brother K Ashraf have urged the home department to consider the incident as a special case and appoint a senior special public prosecutor. They have even suggested the name of special public prosecutor Shivaprasad Alva to appear on behalf of the prosecution.
