A sensational case of love jihad has surfaced in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, where a man named Shoaib pretended to be Saurabh, befriended a Dalit girl and lured her into a relationship after which he repeatedly raped and blackmailed her. He visited her residence under the pretext of meeting her, spiked her cold drink with drugs and sexually assaulted her.
He took pictures and recorded video of the heinous crime and used them to intimidate and sexually violate her multiple times. He also forced her for marriage and religious conversion to Islam. She came to know about the accused’s real identity after listening to a call on his mobile. Afterwards, he thrashed her and threatened to make her explicit footage viral on social media when she confronted him.
The family members of the female have registered a complaint with the Mahanagar police station after learning about the incident. Police have lodged a First Information Report and a probe is underway.
The 23-year-old conveyed that six years prior she had become friends with a young man by the name of Saurabh and they started talking on the phone. He came to her house with a cold beverage in 2019 when she was alone. She consumed it and lost consciousness after which he raped her and made a video of the horrific instance. He placated her using the excuse of marriage after she regained consciousness and protested. The perpetrator frequently raped her after that.
The victim disclosed that he came home a few days ago and had gone to the washroom when his phone rang. When she picked it up, the caller asked if Shoaib was there and she replied that it was Saurabh’s number after which the latter unveiled the offender’s actual name to her. He was outraged to see his mobile in her hand after he came out of the bathroom.
She questioned him about what heard and the enraged man physically assaulted her and ran from there. He then called her and told that he was in possession of her video and that if she revealed his truth to anyone, he would release it on social media. She did not share the occurrence, but the culprit began pressuring her to embrace Islam as well as threatened to harm her family if she did not obey him which scared her and a report was eventually submitted to the cops. The girl mentioned that during his visits to her home, the accused had taken her signatures on black paper on several occasions.
According to Inspector Prashant Mishra, a case has been filed under the UP Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and sections of misbehaviour and threatening in response to the complaint. The offender lives in the city at his aunt’s (mother’s sister) place and raids are being carried out to nab him.
