In a shocking incident of alleged Grooming Jihad (Love Jihad), a group of Muslim goons led by one Ikram barged into the house of a Hindu girl in Durga colony in Sarurpur in Faridabad district, Haryana, where Chhath Puja was being performed on 19th November and tried to abduct her. They also molested the girl and when her family tried to resist, the goons brutally assaulted the members of her family.
The family of the Hindu girl has alleged that Ikram had been pressuring them to allow him to convert the girl to Islam and marry her into his community. This attack was reportedly a repercussion of the Hindu family rejecting Ikram’s advances.
Police coercing victim’s family to reach a settlement and withdraw the case against the accused
While speaking about the incident, the victim’s family also alleged that the police have not been cooperating with them and are trying to protect the accused instead. The lady police officer has been constantly trying to coerce the victim’s family to reach a settlement and withdraw the case against the accused.
Recollecting the harrowing experience, the victim told local news channels like STV Haryana News and News48TV, that she and her family had sat down for Chhath Puja on the night of 19th November when local goon Ikram sent a young boy to call for her. When her brother refused and sent the child away, Ikram landed up at their house with 8-10 of his aides and started looking out for her.
They asked ‘ladki kahan hai, ladki ko uthao?’ (where is the girl, pick her up?) and then on seeing her, they caught her by her hand and dragged her. When the girl’s mother tried to intervene, they thrashed and pushed her away. They then molested the girl near the stairs of the house. When the victim’s brother’s friend tried to intervene, the goons brutally attacked him, leaving him grievously injured.
The victim’s maternal uncle also spoke to the media. He confirmed that the Muslim boy Ikram is feared by everyone in the locality.
Muslim man insisted on getting the Hindu girl converted to Islam and thereafter marry her in his community
Around a month back, Ikram had approached the mother of the Hindu girl and said that he would get the girl married in his ‘quam’ (Muslim community). Ikram had allegedly insisted on getting the girl converted to Islam and thereafter marring her in his community.
He had allegedly told the victim’s mother that since they were from a humble background and the victim’s father was also disabled, he wanted to ensure that the girl is married off into a decent family. He had also assured them financial help if they bowed to his demands. The girl’s mother had, however, angrily driven him away from their home and warned him against proposing such things ever again. This had triggered Ikram, claimed the victim’s uncle.
The uncle speaking to the media also alleged that the police was not cooperating with them. When he went to the police station along with his niece and was guiding him on what to write in the complaint against Ikram, the officer on duty discouraged them from submitting a complaint against the accused saying that their case was weak and that they should withdraw their case else they only could land up in trouble. The uncle claimed that the officer kept threatening his niece and instructing her on what is to be written in the complaint.
Naming Sub Inspector Sushila Phogat in the Women Cell as the one who was pushing them for settlement and pressurising to withdraw their case, victim’s uncle quoted Phogat as saying: “You have come from Bihar, just earn and live here, don’t get into all this…if you agree for settlement, we will ensure you get a fair deal,” Phogat is alleged to have said.
The uncle, however, said: “We want justice…recently we saw Nikita’s (Tomar) case, then another happened few days back, and now this happening with us. This is only increasing, how long will be live subservient to them?”, questioned the victim’s uncle expressing his despondency towards the establishment.
Avinash, the youth who was brutally attacked by Ikram and the other goons, told media, “I went for Chhath to their house as I do every year, and saw the girl being dragged. I tried to mediate and end the dispute, but they started arguing with me. Suddenly, someone attacked me with a sword from behind, and then many of them pounced on me and started beating me with rods and sticks. I had no prior animosity with any of them (in tears) yet they thrashed me so mercilessly that I fainted. I want police to take action.”
Grooming Jihad in Haryana
Like Uttar Pradesh, Haryana has also been emerging as an epicentre for the increasing menace of Grooming Jihad (Love Jihad), where Hindu girls are victimised, forced to convert to Islam on the pretext of marriage. Recently, a 16-year-old minor girl went missing from Rewari, Haryana. The mother of the victim had revealed that her daughter’s abductor had introduced himself as one ‘Rahul Rathore’, and had allegedly hidden his real identity to lure her daughter. She had claimed that his father’s name is Asif and he originally hails from a village near Ferozepur Jhirka, Haryana.
Likewise, in the Nikita Tomar case, which had gained national attention, the 21-year-old Hindu girl was killed in broad daylight by a man named Tousif after she rejected his advances and refused to convert to Islam.
