In a fresh case of love jihad that has been reported from the Kopargaon region of the Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra, a Hindu girl was reportedly kidnapped, raped, and threatened with death before her forceful conversion. The accused persons are also said to have threatened the girl saying that “Muslims are converting people all over the world. Nothing wrong can happen to us. We have strong connections” etc.
The accused persons have been identified as Sayam Qureshi, Imran Sheikh, Chotu alias Kaleem, Faiyyaz, and one unidentified Maulvi. The Ahmednagar police have arrested all the accused except for the Maulvi who is said to have converted the victim girl to Islam. All the accused persons hail from Indore, Madhya Pradesh, and have been booked for threatening, raping, and forcefully converting the religion of a 20-year-old Hindu girl.
The sections imposed by the police in the case are 376 (rape), 363 (kidnapping), 354 (outraging woman’s modesty), 328 (Causing hurt by means of poison), 295, 295A (hurting religious sentiments), 298, 504 (insult, provoking), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. As per the sources, the accused persons are in police custody and are being interrogated. However, the Maulvi is yet to be arrested.
As per the FIR copy obtained by OpIndia, the victim woman runs a cafe in the Kopargaon region of Ahmednagar district. She got introduced to the primary accused Sayam through Instagram in the year 2019. Eventually, they became friends, exchanged phone numbers, and developed a friendship. The relationship continued until it took a horrific turn to expose the true face of the accused in the year 2023.
The girl was intoxicated, then raped, videos were shot
In May 2023, Sayam traveled all the way from Indore to Koargaon and pressed the woman to meet. He called her at the local bus station and asked her to follow him. On refusal, the woman was threatened to death. He also called his associates (other three identified accused) and then forcefully took her to a Madarssa in the Khadki region. “Now you are alone here. No one is going to come to save you,” they said before forcefully intoxicating her. Sayam then raped her while the other accused persons shot derogatory videos and photos of the event, as per the complaint.
The girl in the complaint mentioned that though she was intoxicated, she tried to resist but nothing worked. “He raped me and then dropped me back to my house. Later he again called and forced me to accompany him in a white Ertiga. He touched me inappropriately and allowed me to go after an hour or so,” the FIR roughly reads.
Maulvi from Indore converted the girl to Islam, forced her to read Namaz
The accused further used derogatory photos and videos of the rape to blackmail the girl. He forced her to travel to Indore and accompany him to one of his friend’s engagement party. “He had threatened me. He had said that he would publicize the videos if I don’t travel to Indore. He raped me in Indore also,” the girl said.
As per the complaint, the accused threatened the girl to share the derogatory videos and took her to his home in Indore. This time he again brutally raped the woman leaving her in severe pain. Later he took her to a Maulvi (fifth accused) in the city and forcefully converted her to Islam. He blackmailed her against the videos and forced her to read Namaz. The woman said that he raped her several times after that and also threatened her family members.
‘Your daughter will be sold into prostitution’: accused threatened victim’s family
“He used to WhatsApp call my family members including my sister and ask them to convert their religion too. He told my parents that he would throw me into the prostitution business if they fail to convert their religion and follow Islam. He also said that conversion to Islam was being practiced all over the world and that it was common now,” the girl said.
‘Conversion to Islam is happening worldwide, we have strong connections,’ Sayam boasted
The accused Sayam is said to have threatened the family of the girl saying, “Muslims are converting people all over the world. Nothing wrong can happen to us. We have strong connections. Do not open your mouths. Otherwise, we will sell your daughters and kill your son.”
Sayam also threatened the parents of the girl to get her married to him given that he was in the possession of her intimate videos.
Links to Sambhajinagar suspected
Sources confirmed to OpIndia that Faiyyaz, one of the accused was involved in making fake documents and had helped the primary accused also in this case. Sources say that these accused persons have connections with Islamists in Sambhajinagar district of Maharashtra who probably provide funds for conversion activities.
How was the girl converted?
While talking to the local media, the girl confirmed the incident and said that she was influenced to accept that Islam. “While we were in a relationship, Sayam used to show me videos of Zakir Naik and boast about Quran. He used to say that Quran has solution to every problem in this world,” the girl said.
She said that the accused showed her videos also of some ‘Hindu Pandits’ who would say that “Islam is best”. “He sent me videos for around a year after which I also started believing that Islam is good. When we went to Indore, he took me to a Maulvi who converted me. But later I was raped,” she said.
Similar horrific case was reported from Manchar, Pune
Earlier, a similar case was reported from the Manchar region of the Pune district where a Hindu minor was trapped, kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and forcefully converted to Islam by Javed Sheikh (22). The brutal face of the accused was exposed after it was learned that the girl was kept hostage for years and was given bruises of lit cigarette. She was also assaulted by the family members of the accused. The girl seemed scared and intimidated even after she was rescued, due to prolonged trauma.