The chargesheet in the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Nashik, sexual harassment and religious coercion case, which was filed by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) before the court last week, has revealed disturbing details relating to the case. As per the chargesheet, a 23-year-old victim in the case was made to watch videos of Pakistani Islamic cleric Tariq Jamil and fugitive controversial Indian Islamic preacher Zakir Naik to understand Islam.
The chargesheet, which relates to a case registered at Deolali Camp police station against Danish Shaikh, Tausif Attar and Nida Khan. According to the victim’s statement, which has been included in the chargesheet, the accused had chalked out a plan to psychologically manipulate her into abandoning her Hindu faith and converting to Islam.
The accused asked the victim to stop going to temples
She told the investigators that the accused Shaikh, who is married, sexually exploited her on the promise of marriage and told her to stop visiting temples and listening to Bhajans. He promised to marry her, but when she was stressed about whether his family would accept her, he advised her to recite Tasbeeh and seek forgiveness through Islamic prayers, claiming it would ease her anxiety.
“Don’t be afraid, trust me, Allah is with us. Stop listening to Bhagwan songs and going to the temple; your stress will decrease. The more you take Allah’s name, your sins will be forgiven, and your good deeds will increase, whether you read Astaghfar, meaning you will ask for forgiveness from Allah, and your mental stress will decrease,” Sheikh told the victim.
The victim was made to watch the videos of Islamic preachers
The victim said that Sheikh asked co-accused Tausif Attar and Nida Khan to provide her with information about Islam. Attar asked the victim to look for videos of Zakir Naik and Pakistani Islamic scholar Dr Israr Ahmed on YouTube and listen to them. The chargesheet states that the accused introduced the victim to Islamic concepts such as Jannah (heaven), Jahannum (hell), Qurbani (sacrifice), Bakri Eid and Zamzam water.
As a result of constant manipulation, the victim, at one point, was convinced to accept Islam. “I was convinced that if I accepted the Islamic religion, my mental stress would decrease. I slowly started believing in those things,” the victim said in her statement. The chargesheet also states that Shaikh had access to details of the victim’s bank accounts and UPI PIN.
The first chargesheet filed by the SIT in May in connection with the case includes statements from 106 witnesses, including the complainant, her mother, TCS employees/management, Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH) committee members, and the investigating officers of the case. However, as the probe in the case progressed, the SIT filed a second set of charge sheets linked to eight FIRs registered at Mumbai Naka police station. The accused in all nine cases include Danish Shaikh, Tausif Attar, Nida Khan, Raza Memon, Shahrukh Qureshi, Shafi Sheikh, Asif Aftab Ansari and Ashwini Ashok Chainani. All are currently in judicial custody.
Apart from the three accused named in the present chargesheet, the name of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) corporator Mateen Patel from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar was also included for providing shelter to the accused Nida Khan while she was absconding, despite knowing that her anticipatory bail plea had been rejected.
