On Friday, January 24th, Islamists on X (formerly Twitter) spread false information about the brutal murder of a Muslim woman by her Hindu husband, with the malicious intent of promoting the 'Bhagwa Love Trap (BLT)' conspiracy theory.
Prominent Islamist accounts, such as ‘Tanvir Rangrez (@virjust18)’ and ‘Adv.Nazneen Akhtar (@NazneenAkhtar23)’, falsely alleged that the body of a Muslim woman named Gulnaz was dismembered and found in a refrigerator.
In an attempt to draw comparisons with the Shraddha Walker murder case, they falsely accused Gulnaz's Hindu husband, Sanjay Patidar, of her murder.
“This is what happens to women who do not listen to their parents and make their own decisions,” said Tanvir Rangrez. His tweet included a video showing police officers examining the crime scene, where the body of a deceased woman was visible.
The incident took place in Dewas, a city in the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh. The victim, identified as Pratibha Prajapati, was a Hindu woman, not a Muslim. She was murdered in March 2024, and her body was concealed in a refrigerator in a rented house.
The perpetrator was her live-in partner, Sanjay Patidar. Contrary to claims made by certain Islamist accounts on X (formerly Twitter), there is no communal angle to the case. Both the victim and the accused belonged to the same faith.
Attempts to portray this incident through a communal lens appear to be part of a larger effort to legitimize the ‘Bhagwa Love Trap’ (BLT) conspiracy theory. This theory alleges that Hindu men deceive Muslim women into relationships as part of a ploy to convert them to Hinduism.
Despite the lack of evidence supporting such claims, the BLT conspiracy theory has gained traction among radical Muslim circles on social media. This has led to real-world consequences, including incidents of harassment, moral policing, and targeted violence against Hindu-Muslim couples.
OpIndia has documented over 100 cases where Hindu men and their Muslim partners or friends have been subjected to attacks by extremists under the guise of countering the so-called ‘Bhagwa Love Trap.’
Shraddha murder case
Aftab Amin Poonawalla, a 28-year-old food blogger from Mumbai, was arrested by Delhi Police on Saturday, November 12, for the brutal murder of his Hindu live-in partner, Shraddha Walkar.
On May 18 of this year, he strangled Shraddha to death and subsequently dismembered her body into 35 pieces. Over the course of several days, he disposed of the body parts at 18 different locations across the National Capital.
The horrific nature and severity of the crime have sparked outrage across the nation. Meanwhile, his social media accounts have come under scrutiny, with netizens flooding the comment sections of his posts with expressions of anger.
Pratibha Prajapati murder case
The decomposed body of a woman was discovered inside a refrigerator in a house in Dewas city, Madhya Pradesh, on Friday. Following the discovery, a former tenant was detained for questioning, police officials reported.
The woman, dressed in a saree and wearing jewelry, was found with her hands tied and a noose around her neck. Authorities suspect she was murdered last year, an official stated.
The house, located in Vrindavan Dham Colony under the jurisdiction of the Bank Note Press police station, belongs to Dhirendra Shrivastava, who resides in Indore, according to Dewas Superintendent of Police (SP) Puneet Gehlot.
“The woman appears to be in her 30s, and we believe she was killed in June 2024. A foul smell emanating from the house prompted neighbors to contact the landlord. Upon unlocking part of the house, the landlord discovered the body inside a refrigerator with its shelves removed and immediately alerted the police,” SP Gehlot explained.
Shrivastava had rented the house to Sanjay Patidar of Ujjain in June 2023. Patidar vacated most of the house a year later but left some belongings in the study room and master bedroom, promising to retrieve them later, the SP added.
Inspector Amit Solanki from Bank Note Press police station noted that Patidar occasionally visited the property. Recently, the current tenant requested the landlord to unlock the remaining portion of the house. Although the landlord briefly opened it to show the tenant, he locked it again, citing Patidar's belongings. On Wednesday, the landlord switched off the power supply to the locked portion.
The incident came to light when the refrigerator stopped functioning due to the power outage, leading to a foul odor. “Patidar has been taken into custody and is being interrogated,” Inspector Solanki confirmed.
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