A distressing incident involving love jihad has come to the fore from the Shahjahanpur area in Uttar Pradesh. A 23-year-old Dalit woman, identified as Seema Gautam, was trapped in a love affair, raped, forcefully converted to Islam and later poisoned to death. Two accused, namely Mohd Naved and Farhan Khan have been taken into custody. The police are on the lookout for the third accused, Mustaquim.
The case came to the fore on Saturday, May 27, when the woman was taken to a hospital in Lakhimpur Kheri, where doctors declared her dead.
According to reports, the Dalit woman was three months pregnant when she was poisoned to death by her partner Naved after she refused to convert to Islam. Naved had presented himself as a Hindu to befriend the woman, raped her and started forcing her to convert to Islam using her objectionable pictures. She became pregnant. Later, when she refused to convert to Islam, Naved with the help of his aides, killed her by giving her poison.
Speaking about the incident, the Shahjanpur police said that when Naved brought the victim to the hospital with his aide Farhan, he initially identified her as his wife, Zoya Siddiqui. On being questioned strictly, he divulged the truth. He confessed that the victim’s real name was Seema Gautam and they were in a live-in for the last one and a half years.
थाना रोजा क्षेत्रांतर्गत युवकों द्वारा संदिग्ध परिस्थितियों में युवती को मृत अवस्था में जिला अस्पताल में एडमिट कराने की घटना तथा कार्यवाही के संबंध में श्री सुधीर जायसवाल, अपर पुलिस अधीक्षक नगर #shahjahanpurpol की बाइट।#UPPolice@CMOfficeUP @Uppolice @adgzonebareilly pic.twitter.com/7fVYVxZN04
— SHAHJAHANPUR POLICE (@shahjahanpurpol) May 28, 2023
According to the police, the deceased victim Seema Gautam, hailing from Paliakalan in Lakhimpur, worked as a receptionist at Dr Shroff Eye Charitable Hospital in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh. She met Naved at her workplace. Naved introduced himself as a Hindu to trap Seema in his love trap. The duo began living together in a rented house in Shahjahanpur.
At around 1 pm on Saturday (May 27), Seema Gautam was brought to the hospital in Lakhimpur Kheri in critical condition by Naved and his accomplice Farhan Khan. The duo told hospital authorities that the woman was Zoya Siddiqui, wife of Naved, during the admission, police said.
The hospital staff, however, found their activities suspicious as they both tried to flee after coming to know the woman had died. Both were caught. It was found they had entered incorrect details in the hospital records. Subsequently, the police were informed.
Following interrogation, police said the couple was living together for the last one-and-a-half years and the woman was pregnant. The accused were exerting pressure on her to change her religion, they said.
Based on the complaint lodged by the brother of the deceased, a case was registered against Naved, Mustaquim and Farhan under sections of the Indian Penal Code, Schedule Caste/Schedule Tribe Act and Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act.
Police said Naved and Farhan are in jail while Mustaquim is absconding.
Meanwhile, levelling serious allegations against Mohd Naved and his associates, Seema Gautam’s brother told the police that Naved posed as a Hindu to trap his sister in a love affair and moved into a rented house with her. He established physical relations with her and made her obscene videos. He started using the videos to pressurise her into embrace Islam. When Seema became pregnant she shared her ordeal with her family members. It was when Seema refused to accede to Naved’s conversion demands, Naved and his accomplices administered poison to Seema and killed her.
While the relatives of the deceased have demanded harsh punishment for the perpetrators, members of the Bajrang Dal, who rushed to the hospital after learning of the murder of a Hindu girl, warned that they would take to the streets to protest if strict and speedy action is not taken against the accused.
The also raised concerns over the high-scale conspiracy that is being hatched in Uttar Pradesh’s Shahjahanpur where susceptible and vulnerable Hindu women are being targeted and exploited by Muslim men in the name of ‘love,’ and later either forcefully converted them to Islam, pushed into terrorism, groomed or murdered and raped.
