CHHATRAPATI SAMBHAJINAGAR: An 18-year-old woman in Nanded accused her father and brothers of murdering her 25-year-old boyfriend over their inter-caste relationship, and demanded they be awarded capital punishment. She also performed symbolic wedding rituals before the deceased youth's funeral rites on Friday evening.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Aanchal Mamilwad said her family violently opposed the relationship solely because Saksham Tate belonged to a Buddhist community, while her family identified as Hindu.
"My father kept telling me to end the relationship because he was a Buddhist. He even offered to let me marry any other man of my choice — but not Saksham. They killed him brutally, but they lost. My lover won, even in death. I want my father and brothers to be hanged," she said crying uncontrollably. She added that the couple planned to marry in a month and had already begun informal preparations.
According to police, Tate was allegedly called to the Juna Ganj locality on Thursday evening, where he was attacked by the girl's brothers Himesh and Sahil Mamilwad, her father Gajanan Mamilwad, and three others who fired gunshots at him and later smashed his head with a stone slab, killing him on the spot.
The other accused have been identified as Jayashri Thakur, Somash Lakhe and Vedant. Police said all the accused have been arrested while a minor was produced before the child welfare committee, which remanded him to a correctional home.
The police also added that both the accused and the victim are criminals on police records. Nanded sub divisional police office (SDPO) Prashant Shinde said, an FIR against the accused has been registered at the Itwara police station under sections 103, 61(2), 189, 190(1), 191(2), 191(3) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023, sections 3(2)(v), 3(2)(va) of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and section 3/25 of the Indian Arms Act.
Sources said Tate was recently released from jail, and Aanchal claimed that her family had been plotting to eliminate him for weeks. "They were threatening him continuously. As soon as he came out of jail, they decided to finish him. They murdered him like an animal," she alleged.
Eyewitnesses at the funeral said the atmosphere turned emotionally overwhelming when Aanchal entered the home where Tate's body was kept and broke down beside it. She reportedly applied haldi and kumkum as part of symbolic wedding rites, and relatives said Tate too was ceremonially applied turmeric in accordance with traditional rituals.
Aanchal further said she had severed all ties with her family and would live permanently with Saksham's mother. "I will stay with his mother for the rest of my life. They cannot separate us anymore," she said.
Senior police officers said additional force had been deployed in the locality to avoid caste-based tensions. The investigation was ongoing to determine the exact sequence of events, recover the weapon used and examine whether more individuals were involved in the conspiracy.
Police said they would also record Aanchal's detailed statement.
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