Hours after moving into her a new rented accommodation in Noida on Saturday, 21-year-old Taniya Hassan was allegedly asked to move out for being a Muslim, she claimed.
Ms. Hassan, hailing from Ranchi and a literature graduate from Delhi University’s Miranda House College, is preparing for civil services examination.
She was told by her flatmate that the landlord had said she will not be allowed to stay because of the community she belongs to.
Ms. Hassan claimed that her landlord is a serving Army officer.
Commute time
After completing her graduation, Ms. Hassan said that she had no plans to leave her accommodation in North Campus. However, after joining a private university in Noida for pursuing a course in Bachelor of Education and preparing for civil services examination simultaneously, she decided to shift to reduce commuting time.
“I called up a broker who put me in touch with another girl from the same college who was looking for a house. We both met and checked a few houses after which we decided on this one,” the woman said adding that her flatmate is a Hindu.
Ms. Hassan claimed the landlord wanted to meet the tenants.
She said she could not make it because she had to go to the North Campus to collect her documents from the college. Her flatmate and her mother met the landlord.
Document verification
On August 3, Ms. Hassan said the broker asked for her documents, including identity and residence proof, which she provided.
The two women moved into the house on Saturday morning.
However, in the evening, the same day, the flatmate called Ms. Hassan and told her that the landlord wants her to move out because “she is a Muslim”.
Ms. Hassan alleged that he shared his apprehensions with her flatmate that “what if she is from some terrorist organisation?”.
He allegedly also asked the flatmate’s mother to keep her daughter away from Ms. Hassan.
“My flatmate, however, was extremely supportive and both of us decided to move out. When we had a word with the broker, he also apologised and sided with us,” she said.
The broker allegedly told the landlord that his house will now not be in his list of rented accommodations and that the landlord can find a tenant himself.
Landlord got scared
“The landlord got scared and spoke to me via the broker over the phone. He said that he had checked my credentials and I can live in the house. Had he met me earlier, he would not have said anything like that,” Ms. Hassan alleged.
The woman believes that the landlord thought that the issue might snowball into something bigger which is why he backed out.
The two women, however, have planned to leave the house at the earliest, Ms. Hassan said. She does not plan to approach the police.