Despite there being a strict anti-conversion law in place in Madhya Pradesh, a case of purported ‘love jihad’ has come to the fore from the Katni region of the state.
A youth named Salman befriended a Hindu girl by hiding his religious identity. He raped her for six months and impregnated her. When his identity was disclosed and the girl protested, he assaulted her and forced her to abort her child. He then buried the fetus in a deserted place and threatened her with death if she did not marry him.
#FitIndiaSuperhitBulletin: MP के कटनी में युवक ने खुद को कुशवाहा बताया.. फिर हिंदू लड़की से किया कुकर्म!
— Times Now Navbharat (@TNNavbharat) September 19, 2023
देखिए, 'फिट इंडिया सुपरहिट बुलेटिन' @spbhattacharya और @iamdeepikayadav के साथ #Katni pic.twitter.com/UNPnoDFPMu
After learning about the ordeal the girl’s family registered a complaint against the accused on Monday (September 18, 2023). The state police booked the accused under sections 374, 506, and 34 of the Indian Penal Code and arrested him.
According to the reports, the accused introduced himself to the girl as Kushawa, a Hindu and developed a friendship with her. He later established a relationship with her and forced her to be in sexual relations with him. He kept on forcefully sexually exploiting her for months.
The victim girl came to know about the original identity of the accused from her relatives. She was five months pregnant at that time. On confronting, the accused assaulted the girl and threatened her. He also aborted the five-month-old unborn and buried it in some deserted location.
The girl along with her family members reached the Katni police station on Monday (September 18) and lodged a police complaint against the accused. She said that she was raped, assaulted, threatened, and manhandled by the accused identified as Salman.
Police station in-charge Akhilesh Dahiya said that the remains of the buried unborn will be recovered and required tests will be performed on it. The accused will be punished after a thorough investigation, the police officer said.
Love Jihad cases in Madhya Pradesh
Earlier, several cases of love jihad have been reported from the state of Madhya Pradesh. On August 18, in Barwani of Madhya Pradesh, a Muslim youth was all set to forcibly marry a Hindu girl through Islamic Nikah rituals when the plan was busted as the Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad members barged into the house where the marriage was about to take place.
Barwani SP Puneet Gahlod had confirmed the case and had said that the girl was forcibly being married to the accused. “Action has been taken against the young man under rape charges and the Freedom of Religion Act. The girl said that the accused also had physical relations with her,” the police was quoted as saying.
Also in May this year, Mohammad Faizan Khan son of Farid Khan, and resident of Haroon Colony Khajrana had befriended a Hindu girl in a coaching class and engaged in physical relations with her on the pretext of marriage.
Later, Faizan pressured her to accept Islam and when she refused, he started fighting with her. Faizan warned her of dire repercussions and threatened to kill her, her brother, and her mother. The police then registered a case under sections of rape and the MP Religious Freedom Act.
