A 21-year old girl who was allegedly kidnapped for forceful conversion and marriage has finally been rescued by the police in Dharmashala town of Jajpur district after 13 days. On December 15, the father of the girl had approached the Odisha High Court, seeking directions to the police stating that despite repeated complaints and FIR, the police had failed to rescue their daughter.
Sehmat Khan had been forcing the victim to convert to Islam: Girl’s family
A 21-year-old girl was allegedly kidnapped from VN College, Jajpur on December 5 when she had gone there to collect her migration certificate. As per reports, the family of the girl had approached the police to trace her, stating that a man named Abdul Sehmat Khan alias Bobby has been pursuing her and forcing her to marry him, but the police had neglected the issue. As the local police ignored his complaints, the girl’s father had approached the SP in Jajpur, seeking his intervention.
Recently, the victim girl had reportedly made a frantic phone call to her mother, alleging that Sehmat Khan had kidnapped her and has been forcing her to convert to Islam. The girl stated in the phone call that she is being threatened and assaulted and Abdul Sehmat Khan had told her that if she refuses to convert, she will be killed and her body will be thrown away.
The girl had also informed her mother that she has been kept at a hotel in Puri and will be taken later to a Mosque in Cuttack for the Islamic marriage. An audio recording of a conversation, allegedly that of the girl with her mother seeking help and informing that Abdul Sehmat has been planning to do a forceful ‘Nikah’ with her, is going viral on the social media.
Girl’s family had to approach High Court as police failed to rescue her
Failing to get help from the police, the girl’s father had approached the Odisha High Court on December 15, seeking direction to the police to help rescue their daughter. In his petition to the Odisha High Court, the victim’s father had stated that despite repeated complaints, request letter, FIR and several visits to the police station, the police had not been taking any steps to rescue his daughter. In his petition, the father had cited that the accused Sehmat khan had long been forcing the victim to convert to Islam and marry him. When the girl refused to convert, he had finally kidnapped her.
The copy of the letter and petition has been provided to use by a Twitter user @Defence_360. The user also helped in obtaining additional information regarding the case.
After HC petition, girl rescued, arrests made
The police then arrested Sehmat Khan’s father Sheikh Abdul Hamid Khan for aiding his son Sehmat in abducting the girl and threatening the family. He was produced at the court and was remanded to 14 days of judicial custody. Finally, on the evening of December 17, the victim was rescued by the police. After police raids, she was rescued from the Jagatpur area of Cuttack city. The abductor Sehmat Khan has been arrested and has been sent to judicial custody, as per reports.
