On Saturday, 12th July, Uttar Pradesh‘s Shahjahanpur police arrested a man, Naveed alias Kasib Pathan, on charges of raping a Hindu girl and attacking several others in a shocking criminal plan. The arrest followed when a young woman from Shahjahanpur approached the Chauk Kotwali police station and complained against Naveed’s nefarious activities.
Naveed befriended her on social media two years ago, pretending to be a Hindu named “Shiv Verma,” as per the victim. He gained her trust by wearing a tilak on his forehead and a Hindu sacred thread (kalava) on his wrist, and even taking an oath on Hindu deities to appear sincere.
He vowed to marry her, but attacked her instead. The victim saw the accused’s phone on Friday, 11th July, and came to know his true identity and found horror-filled pictures and videos on his phone, including those with other girls. When the victim confronted him about it, Naveed said, “Having relations with Hindu girls is a righteous deed for us.” He also brutally beat her and started forcing her to convert to Islam.
Police found out that Naveed and his brother Kaif operated a racket against Hindu girls. They used deceitful Hindu names on social media to trap young women, keep them in a relationship, and then physically assault them. The brothers allegedly recorded all these activities to blackmail their victims into changing religion. Naveed admitted to having targeted at least 18 Hindu girls to date.
The complaint of the victim also included Naveed’s brother Kaif, who also raped the victim, their parents Abba Alam and Uzma, and sister Saman for their complicity. The parents of the accused reportedly forced the victim to abort her pregnancy, and when she did not comply, Naveed purportedly kicked her in the abdomen, resulting in a miscarriage.
Police discovered four Instagram profiles belonging to Naveed under alternate identities, out of which he had posted about 1,900 pictures, many in the company of different girls. Authorities suspect that Naveed and Kaif might be part of a bigger conversion racket, with possible connections to a similar gang found in Balrampur.
The case has caused outrage in Shahjahanpur, with the locals calling for severe action. Naveed is in jail, and the police are probing deeper to find out the scope of the racket and the other victims.
