On Thursday, 12th January 2023, a shocking revelation surfaced from Daund in Maharashtra that more than 200 Hindus are converted every year in the town. Hindu households in Daund said that they are forced to live in insecurity and that Muslim youths are paid Rs 5 lakhs to convert Hindu girls. The Hindu husbands of Muslim women are also forcibly circumcised by local Mulisms.
According to a report by Times Now, the political leadership, including MPs, supports the forced conversion bids, while the police give little assistance. Hindu men are allegedly lured into honey traps in order to convert them. In the region, over 100 men are forced to get circumcised every year.
A Hindu victim girl said, “My mindset was that he is a Hindu boy and therefore my family will accept him and there won’t be any problem. But when the court documents appeared in front of me, at that time, I came to know that the boy was a Muslim. I was shocked and asked him how did he dare to do this fraud with me. But he was accompanied by his friends whom I don’t know. I am a self-reliant girl. He said that he will take care of my family too. Then he told me the whole planning.”
TIMES NOW SIT investigation exposes forceful conversion shocker allegedly taking place in Maharashtra’s Daund.
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) January 12, 2023
“In last 1-2 years around 200 Hindu girls must’ve been converted. The men who are able to convert the Hindu girls are being awarded Rs.4-5 lakhs,” a local says. pic.twitter.com/yUyTUHtoGv
A local resident told, “In a year, around 100 to 200 people are converted here. Among them, most are girls. They are only 17 or 18 years old when it happens. A few of them will be in college when these people brainwash them. They talk about marriage, and after these girls give birth to their children, they are divorced and abandoned. Then they get ready to marry again.”
He added, “Hindus are scared to react as the people behind the forced conversions beat up and threaten girls. They eve-tease these young girls in public but no one can even file a complaint against them. All politicians here support these men, which is why no one is ready to raise their voice. People are scared to even talk about the matter.”
He further said, “If a Hindu girl marries a Muslim guy, the Muslim youth gets around Rs 5 lakhs from the community. There are a few people behind these activities. They are Farooq Qureshi, Kumel Qureshi, Ashib Qureshi, and Farhaan Qureshi. Nobody talks against them, nor takes their names.”
“Hindu girls who are 17-18-year-old are being trapped, & after sometime they divorce them. This continues unabated in Daund,” a local tells TIMES NOW.
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) January 12, 2023
Inter-faith couples share their ordeal about how Hindu men were allegedly circumcised forcefully.@Shivani703 | @anchoramitaw pic.twitter.com/sU9MZ3rGHX
Another Daund resident came ahead and said that after his marriage to a Muslim woman, he was forcefully converted to Islam and circumcized whereas the couple wished to live as an inter-faith couple. He said, “They pinned me down and started video-recording using a mobile phone. One Asif Sheikh held my arms and Kamel Qureshi grabbed my legs. Then, they asked a doctor to start the process. Later, they left me on the floor bleeding.” In addition, his wife said Kamel Qureshi had threatened to murder him if he didn’t convert.
It is notable that Kamel Qureshi alias Haji Saheb is currently under arrest. He is considered to be the mastermind of these forceful conversions taking place in Daund of Maharashtra. His arrest came in one such case of forced conversion and circumcision.
On October 14, Asif Sheikh and Kamel Kureshi got a Muslim doctor with them and forcefully entered the victim’s house in the Kumbhargalli area of Daund. The victim’s wife and his daughters were thrown out of the house before they forcefully circumcised the victim and converted him to Islam.
