Days after Shraddha Walkar’s brutal murder, another case of humiliation in an interfaith relationship surfaced in Maharashtra on 18th November 2022. This time, the victim is a Dalit neo-Buddhist youth Dipak Sonawane studying at the Marathwada Institute of Technology (MIT) in Sambhajinagar of Maharashtra. After continuous torture and extortion from the family of his Muslim girlfriend Sana, Dipak Sonawane held a press conference in Sambhajinagar to share his pain and details of the case.
It is notable that Dipak’s father Ramdas Sonawane moved to Sambhajinagar from his native place in the Latur district of the Marathwada region in Maharashtra. His family, therefore, lacks local support. On the other hand, the victim has alleged that the Islamists in the family of his Muslim girlfriend have received constant support from the influential local MP Imtiaz Jaleel at every step in this matter.
It started as a love affair in college
Dipak Sonawane has filed a complaint against his girlfriend Sana Farheen Shahmir Sheikh. Others named in the complaint addressed to the Commissioner of Police, Sambhajinagar, are Shahmir Shamshuddin Sheikh, Khawaja Sayyed, Shabana Begum Sheikh, Sazia Sadaf Shahmir Sheikh, AIMIM MP Imtiaz Jaleel, and his bodyguards.
Dipak Sonawane studied mechanical engineering at the Marathwada Institute of Technology in Sambhajinagar. Sana was his classmate. Both first became friends and then fell in love with each other. Dipak Sonawane said in his complaint, “Sana Shaikh and I have been studying at M.I.T. College since 2018. We were classmates. So, Sana and I got acquainted. After that, we had this love affair, Sana lured me into marriage and said, ‘I want to marry you, you embrace Islam, recite namaz, read the Quran’.”
Dipak Sonawane further wrote in his complaint, “I told this to her [parents – Shahmir Shamshuddin Sheikh and Shabana Begum Sheikh. They assured me that they will explain their daughter properly and that I should not worry.”
The Islamist torture begins
After this, Dipak Sonawane gave the details of the torture he had to go through. He has also described it all in the press conference. He said, “In March 2021, her parents, uncle, and sister called me to meet in the Gulmandi area. When I went there, they told me to park my bike there and told me that ‘we all need to go out somewhere. As soon as I refused them, Khawaja Sayyed and Shahmir Sheikh forcibly took me to their house. There they locked me in the room. Shahmir Sheikh and Khawaja Sayyed removed my clothes. Shabana Begum and Sazia Sadaf tied my hands and legs and put a cloth in my mouth, while Shahmir Shaikh urinated on my body. The video of the act was shot on the mobile of Sana and Shahmeer Shaikh as they started beating me up for converting to Islam.”
Dipak Sonawane was forcibly circumcised
Dipak Sonawane added, “After that, Sana and her mother and sister took me to a hospital in the lane behind the City Chowk police station and said, ‘We have brought you here to become a Muslim. We are doing your circumcision here. If you say anything to anyone here, we will make your video viral and defame you in society. We will also kill you and your family,’ they threatened. I was very scared because my life and my family’s life were in danger and I would be defamed if my video went viral.”
All this is mentioned in his FIR. Also giving a link to his press conference here. https://t.co/GCeEp12Vq8 cc @AmanChopra_ @republic @Dev_Fadnavis
— Shefali Vaidya. 🇮🇳 (@ShefVaidya) November 18, 2022
Dipak further narrated, “They took advantage of this and circumcised me and said to me ‘You are now a true Muslim and if you tell anyone what has happened, remember, you will regret it’ and they threatened me and brought me back to Gulmandi. I came to my house from there and then I decided to stay away from Sana.”
Islamists extorted Rs 11 lakhs from Dipak Sonawane
Dipak Sonawane has also given a detailed account of how he was extorted by these Islamists and how they hurled casteist abuse at him. He said in his complaint, “Sana and her mother came to my house. ‘We will make Deepak’s video viral, register a serious case against Dipak and ruin his life’ in these words they threatened us and demanded money. I paid her Rs 7 lakh in cash from time to time and Rs 4 lakh online. I sent a total of Rs 11 lakh, but they demanded another Rs 25 lakh from me. I refused them as I did not have money at that time.”
Dipak Sonawane then wrote about the cases being registered against him as threatened. He said, “Then Sana booked a complaint against me in MIDC CIDCO police station on 29-09-21. The case is registered as per section 354 of IPC. After registering the case, Sana called me and said, ‘I told you. You didn’t listen to me. My parents have made a case against you, I will manage’, she said over the phone. After that, on 19-12-21, I met Sana and her parents in the District Sessions Court and at that time they said, ‘Give 25 lakhs or accept Islam, then we will withdraw the case’.”
‘Mahars are filth-eaters and prostitutes’ according to the Islamists inspired by Dr Zakir Naik
Dipak Sonawane said in his complaint, “On 12-08-22, Sana Shahmir Shaikh and Khawaja Sayyed forced me to come to the cloud campus where they showed me the videos of Muslim cleric Dr Zakir Naik on a projector and forced me to offer namaz. If I would oppose them, they would beat me up and hurl casteist abuses at me. They said, ‘You belong to the Mahar caste. The Mahar caste is a lower caste. You people are filth-eaters. You are not a Mahar, but a prostitute community’. They went down to a lower level and hurled casteist insults.”
The Imtiaz Jaleel connection
Sambhajinagar is a Muslim-dominated constituency. AIMIM leader Imtiaz Jaleel is the Lok Sabha MP from this constituency. The Muslim MP is known to extend a soft approach towards local Muslims and keeps calling it to be raising voices for minorities. In this case, his name has appeared as the key protector of the Islamists. Interestingly, it is pertinent to note that Jaleel won his seat on the back of those belonging to the Dalit caste, however, he has now been accused of protecting the Islamists torturing a Dalit man.
Dipak Sonawane said in his complaint, “On 20-08-22, at 2.00 pm, the named persons forced me to sit with them in a car from near Paithan Gate and took me to “Cloud Campus” on the Satyavishnu Hospital Road, near MP Imtiaz Jaleel’s house in the Rozabagh area. There, in the presence of MP Imtiaz Jaleel, they locked me in the classroom hall of a coaching class, and his bodyguards beat me up and the named persons snatched Rs. 1,50,000 cash, a laptop and one plus company’s mobile phone from me. I was beaten up there, they threatened to kill me and demanded money, and hurled casteist abuse at me. All this has been going on for the last two years and legal action should be taken against the non-applicant.”
Multiple cases and prior negligence by the police
In the press conference, Dipak Sonawane alleged that it was he who first approached the police. Dipak said that he wrote multiple complaints to the CP office. The CP office never took them seriously. They just received his complaint and told him every time that they will try to tell the family of his girlfriend as much as they can.
Also, after every complaint Dipak Sonawane filed, there would be a case registered against the victim by the girl and her family under some serious section of the IPC. Dipak Sonawane and his accomplices said in the press conference, “Is there any link from the CP office itself? At whose behest was this done?”
It is notable that one Muslim judge in the sessions court granted bail to Dipak Sonawane who was charged with sections 354 and 376 of the IPC. The victim said that the judge had to give the bail because the allegations were fake, though the sections are meant for an unbailable offence. Throughout this course of incidents, as Dipak Sonawane noted, the situation worsened after Sana’s uncle Khawaja Sayyed came to Sambhajinagar from Beed when he knew about the affair. He also said that the Muslim family has the political support of Imtiaz Jaleel.
Dipak Sonawane’s accomplice said, “As a representative of the constituency, he should have heard Dipak’s version of the story as well. But he was told by Sana’s family that Dipak has objectionable photos and videos of her on my phone. This is why they took away Dipak’s phone. In this way, Imtiaz Jaleel behaved like an MP of Muslims only and not like an MP of all. During the fight, Dipak somehow took the phone and dialled 100 to call the police. The police took him to the station and refused to register a case against the MP and his bodyguards who were beating Dipak. Imtiaz Jaleel’s CCTV has the footage of Dipak’s abduction and subsequent rescue by the police but after this press conference, the CCTV footage can be deleted by those people.”
