'Sawariya was repeatedly pressured to convert, brutally tortured before fatal assault with laptop', family alleges

ALAPPUZHA: The family of Sawariya Basant, the Malayali medical student who was killed in Uzbekistan, has alleged that she was subjected to brutal torture before her death. Sawariya, a first-year MBBS student, died after she was allegedly assaulted by her classmate, Sadarul Anam, a native of Malappuram district. The incident took place last Friday when Sadarul allegedly struck her on the head with a laptop. However, her relatives allege that the laptop blow was not the sole cause of her death and claim she had suffered severe physical abuse.

Family alleges she was pressured to convert to Islam

"Sawariya was subjected to horrific torture. She had injuries all over her body, from her legs to her head. She was not killed by a single blow from a laptop. The investigating officer told us that the assault was extremely brutal. Fellow students told us that Sadarul had repeatedly asked Sawariya to convert to Islam. They said they had witnessed him asking her to convert. However, Sawariya refused to do so. But no one knows exactly what happened in the final moments," Sawariya's relative Janeesh said.

Sawariya and the accused, Sadarul Anam, were first-year students at Bukhara State Medical University in Uzbekistan. According to preliminary information, the two were talking inside a hostel room last Friday when Sadarul allegedly hit Savariya on the head with a laptop. He later took her to a hospital himself, but doctors were unable to save her. Following the incident, Uzbekistan police reportedly took Sadarul Anam (22), a native of Kattuppara in Pulamanthole, Malappuram district, into custody. The information was then conveyed to the families.

Sadarul's father, E.K. Haidras, said the family has received very little information about the incident apart from a phone call from the college. He said that he and Sadarul's brother have applied for visas to travel to Uzbekistan. The family has also approached NORKA (Non-Resident Keralites Affairs) seeking legal assistance for Sadarul.