In another shocking case of love jihad, 22-year-old Museb Maniyar trapped a 15-year-old girl Hindu girl who studied in 9th grade and lived in Vesu, Surat in love jihad and then abducted and took her to Maharashtra when she came to meet him. Fortunately, she was saved by the police. The two had met through social media.
The accused is a resident of Aurangabad and worked as an auto-mechanic. He befriended the victim on Instagram and took her to many hotels. He reportedly made an account with the name “staunch Muslim” on the social media platform and lured her into his fraudulent love trap. He travelled to Surat along with a friend to meet her and celebrated his birthday with her in a hotel there.
Afterwards, he kidnapped her and brought her to Mumbai. The two also visited Ajmer and he stayed with her in multiple hotels during that time. Meanwhile, the victim’s family members protested to the authorities when their daughter went missing from the house for a few days and police started their probe. Two police teams were deployed to Maharashtra in search of them and another youth who helped the offender was caught.
The minor’s location was discovered at Ahmedabad’s Kalupur railway station when authorities put her mobile number under surveillance. She was saved after 15 days as a result of a tip-off and the perpetrator was taken into custody by Ahmedabad police after the information was passed on to them by authorities in Surat. He was going back to Maharashtra from Ajmer with her.
The police have taken action against him under the Kidnapping and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POSCO) Act based on the victim’s complaint. They were transported to Surat Civil Hospital for medical evaluation and at present both are being questioned by the cops.
According to Assistant Commissioner of Police VR Malhotra, the offender in the case is a mechanic who is employed in the garage of his uncle (mother’s brother). He made friends with the girl on social media last year and has been in touch with her ever since. Action has been initiated against him under Sections 363 (punishment for kidnapping) and 366 (Abducting or inducing a woman to compel her to marry) of the Indian Penal Code and the POSCO Act. The cops have organised for the medical examination of the girl and further sections are going to be imposed if rape is confirmed.
The startling occurrence has renewed worries about the threat posed by love jihad in Surat where authorities proclaimed that there has been an increase in instances of this kind recently. About 25 cases of love jihad have been reported in Gujarat in the last five months, the majority of them are from Surat. The case has outraged Hindu outfits in the area and the inquiry is continuing per law.
