The cases of forceful religious conversion and Love Jihad are massively on the rise. While people and several local Hindu organizations are demanding the implementation of a strict law against forceful conversion in Maharashtra, another dreadful case of grooming jihad has come to the fore from the Beed district of Maharashtra.
In a shocking case, a 26-year-old Hindu girl from the Ambejogai region of Beed district was trapped in a love affair, raped, assaulted, and then forced to marry the accused identified as Amir Tamboli from the Pune district. The girl was also brainwashed and forced to accept Islam. The Ambejogai Police filed an FIR against Amir Tamboli and his associates identified as Nandini Banerjee, Adv Arshad Nehal, and Asif who helped the primary accused convert the girl. The victim girl was also looted for money, asked to make nude video calls, and was forced to take Islamic education post-conversion.
The police have also arrested Amir and Nandini in the case.
The FIR has been filed under sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 328 (Causing hurt by means of poison), 34 (criminal act done in furtherance of the common intention), 376 (rape), 377 (Unnatural offences), 384 (extortion), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 504 (insulting to provoke) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
Victim girl was offered a job, influenced to believe in Islam
As per the FIR copy exclusively obtained by OpIndia, the saga began in the year 2021 when the girl, a resident of Ambejogai applied for a job using an online employment-providing platform named ‘Indeed.com’. She was then called for a job interview by Reverenc Technologies pvt ltd. The interview of the girl was conducted by accused Amir Tamboli and she was later offered a job in Pune by his associate, co-accused Nandini Banerjee.
The girl began working from home initially for a fashion venture named ‘Purfle Fashion- E-commerce women’s shopping platform’ during which Nandni would guide her over her assignments and also would deceptively ask her about her personal details. She also would initially mediate official communication between Amir Tamboli and the victim girl.
“This continued for a few days and later Amir directly began talking to me over WhatsApp, voice and video calls. We would talk initially about work and assignments only but later Amir began asking me about my family and other personal details. In September 2021, he called me to his Pune office. We met twice for a week in the presence of Nandini. However, later he cancelled my Work From Home job profile and asked me to join the office in Pune,” the 26-year-old fashion designer girl said in the FIR.
Accused Nandini was also Islamists, had quit Hinduism to embrace Islam
She also mentioned that during her meeting at the office, the accused had put some drugs which made her feel drowsy and heavy-headed. After that Tamboli and Nandini praised Islam and influenced her to start following the religion. They also demeaned Hinduism in front of her and made her believe that Islam was the greatest of all religions. “They used derogatory language for Hinduism and told me that Islam was the best of religions. I was also told that Nandini had quit Hinduism and joined Islam indicating conversion,” the girl said.
The girl was also made to believe that girls in Islam stay safe and are respected a lot. “He told me that Muslim women are never raped and that their dignity is respected. He also made me believe that Hindu women are raped a lot and face magnificent threats. I had no knowledge about all these things that appear in the news so I had no option but to listen to them. They were clearly influencing me to accept Islam,” the complaint by the girl read.
Her ‘Work From Home’ was cancelled, was called to Pune, forced to read Kalma, Namaz
As per the FIR, in December 2021, the girl was asked to join the Pune office, and her Work From Home profile was cancelled by Tamboli. He made her the project head, arranged for her accommodation and also began enhancing his relationship with her. She was made to stay with Nandini who would keep a watch on her activities. “Amir began talking to me more about religion and one day he gave me Kalma to read. He asked me to learn it by heart and recite it. He later told me that I was converted to Islam after reading Kalma,” the victim said.
She also said that she was fed with some derogatory medicine under the guise of Unani medicines after which she would feel heavy-headed and would lose her able mind. At such times, Amir would make video calls to her and ask her to serve herself nude. These videos were later used by the accused to blackmail the victim girl, sources confirmed.
Accused Amir said ‘Kabul Hai’ thrice before raping the girl
The girl then stated that she was raped by Tamboli one day after the office hours. “He first proposed to marry me before establishing sexual relations that day. He said that saying ‘Kubul Hai’ thrice would affirm our marriage. He said it and made me say it. Later he forcefully established sexual relations with me,” the girl said.
Nandini meanwhile was sent to Mumbai for ‘office work’. On her return, the victim girl told her about the sexual move by Tamboli after which Nandini made her feel relaxed by saying that she was now married and that there was nothing to worry about.
After a few days, the accused Tamboli asked the victim girl to inform her parents in Ambejogai about her relationship with him. On refusal, she was physically assaulted by him. He forced her to talk to her parents about their relationship. However, the victim girl fell ill and was again fed some derogatory medicines under the guise of Unani medicines by the accused.
New documents, new name ‘Khadija’ given post marriage
In March 2022, Amir took the girl to his home and introduced her to his first wife and his children. The girl was then influenced and forced to marry him by Tamboli and Nandini in June 2022. The victim girl was then officially named Khadija post-marriage. Her legal documents were changed and a new mobile SIM card was issued to her. The accused would use the same card to talk to Adv Arshad Nehal. He would also make some international calls, as mentioned in the complaint.
After a few months, the parents of the girl from Ambejogai arrived in Pune and asked to her come back. They were unhappy about her relationship and the following conversion. However, she was influenced by the accused to convince them that she had converted her religion to Islam by herself.
Her fake confession video was made viral
In May 2023, the girl went to her home in Ambejogai where her parents asked her to quit Islam and come back to Hinduism. The girl happened to tell this to the accused Tamboli after which he forced her to make a video confessing and accepting that she had now converted her religion to Islam.
“The content of the video was sent to me by Tamboli who forced me to say whatever he had written. He also made sure that I was reading Namaz and was taking ‘medicines’ regularly,” the girl stated in the complaint.
The said video was made viral over various social media platforms in which the girl was forced to say that she had converted her religion to Islam by herself and that nobody had forced her to do so. Meanwhile, Nandini Banerjee made a trip to Ambejogai and demanded money from the victim girl. She told her that she (the victim girl) had now been removed from the company and that Tamboli and Adv Arshad were in possession of her derogatory videos. She also threatened that her videos would be made viral if no money was provided to the duo.
Victim was threatened, blackmailed for money against derogatory videos
Nandini blackmailed the girl and also showed her a derogatory video in which the latter could be seen nude. “She showed me the video and said that Amir and Adv Arshad Nehal had demanded money. I got scared. I knew where the money at my home was kept. So, without asking or informing anyone at home, I gave her Rs 6 lakhs. I was scared that my derogatory video would be made viral,” the girl said.
The girl said that she was under the influence of medicines and was not aware of what she was doing or saying. She also clarified that the derogatory videos in which she is seen nude were recorded by Tamboli after feeding her medicines.
As per the sources, the parents of the girl in July this year made all the possible efforts to get back their daughter but the girl in the Pune court had refused to go with her parents and had said that she had converted to Islam by her own will. However, in the complaint filed on August 20 this year, the girl said that she had given her statement in the Pune court out of fear and under the influence of medicines. “They had derogatory video of me. I was threatened and was forced to speak whatever Amir, Nandini, and Adv Arshad wanted to me say. I was staying at Amir’s house during the case,” the girl said.
Later when recently the girl happened to be in Ambejogai for another case, she realised and learned the truth about how she was brainwashed and forced to convert by Tamboli. She realized that she was blackmailed, raped, force-fed the wrong medicines, and then converted to Islam. The realization is said to have happened after the medicines that the girl had been forcefully taking finished and she stopped consuming the further course.
The case has been transferred to Wakd Police in Pune, probe underway
In the complaint, the girl has also mentioned that she was abused, assaulted, and threatened with death by Amir Tamboli who brutally raped her several times in the past two years. The police have taken cognizance of the series of events and have booked Amir Tamboli, Nandini Banerjee, Adv Arshad Nehal, and Asif in a case. Asif has been booked for providing derogatory medicines to Tamboli which were ultimately given to the victim girl for consumption.
However, Adv Arshad has been booked for making fake documents. Nandini meanwhile has been booked and arrested for assisting Tamboli (also arrested) in brainwashing the victim girl and forcing her to convert to Islam.
Earlier, several similar cases have been reported from Maharashtra where Hindu girls were assaulted, raped, and forced to convert their religions to Islam. In a brutal case of Love Jihad reported from the Manchar region of Pune, a Hindu minor girl was abducted, raped, and assaulted by one Javed Sheikh. The girl was rescued after 4 years and was scared so much so that she even refused to identify and go close to her father. The girl during the period of 4 years was tortured, assaulted, and given the bruises of lit cigarettes.
The Police then arrested the accused and booked him under sections 363 (kidnapping) and 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code and sections 4, 6, 8, and 10 of the POCSO Act. Further investigations are underway.
Also recently, a dreadful case of Love Jihad was covered by Opindia from Rahuri, Maharashtra. Around 7-8 Hindu minor girls were trapped in a love affair by one Avej Sheikh who was helped by a tutor named Heena. The woman groomed the girls to behave like Muslims while the accused assaulted the girls and forced them to convert their religion and run away with him. The case was exclusively covered by OpIndia details of which can be read here.
In the current case, the FIR has been registered at Ambejogai Police Station but the case has now been transferred to Wakad Police Station in Pune given the location of the crime. All the accused are residents of Pune as per the FIR copy and the company owned by Tamboli, Reverenc Technologies has its office in Wakad Police. The Wakad Police has begun a probe into the case and has obtained the official statement of the victim girl. Exclusive details of the same will be obtained and revealed by OpIndia.
