A youth named Fardeel Faruqui has been booked by the Lasudia police, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, under IPC sections 354, 354 (D) and 3/5 of the MP Religious Freedom Act 2021 and 67-A of the IT Act, over allegations of blackmailing, assault, forced conversion and outraging the modesty of a woman by taking her nude video. As reported by Hindi daily Nai Dunia, Faruqui befriended the victim by asking her to be her brother. He also obtained her nude videos and later tried to use them to force her to convert to Islam, the victim has alleged.
According to the report, the accused had hacked the victims’ mother’s WhatsApp account to obtain personal information. He posted some objectionable pictures of the victim on Instagram and threatened her to release more if she did not give in to his demands of adopting Islam and marrying him.
Madhya Pradesh police said accused hacked victim’s mother WhatsApp and changed the number
Town Inspector (TI) Indramani Patel said that in the year 2017, the victim and the accused, Fardeel Faruqui, the son of one Sohrab Faruqui, a resident of Dhar Road (in front of Timber Market), studied together in class eight in a reputed school located in Indore’s Vijay Nagar area.
Fardeel had initially offered himself as a brother in order to build a relationship with the girl. After class nine, Fardeel left the school but continued to be a contact with the victim through social media. During this time, Fardeel obtained the victim’s mother’s WhatsApp login and OTP, changed the number, and hacked the account. In June 2020, when the victim’s father threatened to lodge a complaint against Fardeel, the latter’s uncle Amjad forced Fardeel to issue an apology.
In January this year, the accused once against approached the victim through a friend. He created an Instagram account and shared the details of the said account with the victim.
The victim told the police that Fardeel had invited her to a cafe located in sector 78, for his birthday in the month of July 2021. There he allegedly forced himself on the victim and clicked objectionable pictures and videos. After a few days, Fardeel started blackmailing the girl with these images. He threatened her to leak the images and videos on social media if she did not convert to Islam and marry him, she said. When she rejected his demands, the accused posted a few pictures and videos of Instagram. He started defaming the victim in front of their friends by using these images.
Accused Fardeel Faruqui forced victim to strip and pose nude on a video call
The girl was so embarrassed and petrified, that she locked herself up in her house. On August 15, Fardeel called up the victim and forced her to strip and pose nude on a video call. When the victim refused, the accused reportedly threatened her to release some other obscene pictures and videos of hers, which he claimed were in his possession.
He again pressurised the victim to meet him on August 21, saying that is she did not, he would leak the videos on social media. Police have now registered a complaint and investigation is currently underway.
