A case of alleged grooming and attempt to convert has recently came to light from Madhya Pradesh’s capital Bhopal. The family members of a girl who is said to be from the Yadav community have accused Faizal alias Badshah of abducting their daughter on the pretext of marriage and forcing her to recite Kalma and convert. After the investigation, Police rescued the victim on 18th May and arrested the accused. They are investigating the case from the angle of human trafficking as well. The victim has been sent to an NGO for counseling.
In their FIR at Avadhpuri police station in Bhopal, the family members said, “A young man from the Muslim community took our daughter away on the pretext of marriage and then forced her to recite Kalma.” Police have registered a case under the Freedom of Religion Act. While EtvBharat’s report claims that the accused was arrested, according to media reports updated after the Etv report, the police stated that they would soon arrest the accused.
Nonetheless, the details about the case came to light after the family of the victim filed a missing complaint at the Police station.
According to reports, the accused is a resident of Anna Nagar, and he has been identified as Faizal alias Badshah. The 20-year-old victim hails from the Yadav community and is a resident of Awadhpuri. Faizal is accused of taking the victim to Kerala on 11th May on the pretext of marriage. He then started pressuring the victim to change her religion. However, the victim called her relatives and narrated her ordeal to them. Afterward, her family members lodged a complaint at the Awadhpuri police station. After the accused learned about the complaint, he reportedly booked a flight for the victim and sent her back to Bhopal. After arriving in the city on Saturday morning (18th May), she went to the police station to give her statements.
According to reports, Police suspect that this could be a case of love jihad or human trafficking. Faizal alias Badshah is also accused of forcing the victim to do religious conversion.
Speaking with Free Press, Awadhpuri police station TI Roshanlaal Bharti said that the woman used to reside in Anna Nagar, where she struck a friendship with a man named Badshah, who belonged to a different religion. The woman later shifted to Awadhpuri but stayed in touch with Badshah. In her complaint, the woman stated that Badhshah promised to marry her and said that he would reside with her in Kerala after marriage.
TI Bharti added that an NGO working for the welfare of women has also taken cognisance of the issue.
Police recovered documents related to Islam and how to recite Kalma from the girl: Report
According to reports, the police have also recovered some documents from the victim girl that pertain to the Islamic faith and Kalma. According to the information received, police discovered a book titled “How to Become a Muslim” in the victim’s bag. Additionally, some papers were also found detailing how to recite Kalma.
Update: In further investigation, police discovered a book titled "How to Become a Muslim" in Priya Yadav's (name changed) bag. Some papers were also found detailing how to recite the kalma. This confirms the validity of religious conversion charges.
— Treeni (@TheTreeni) May 19, 2024
The investigation revealed…
Following the recovery, the Police suspect that the girl was being pressured to do religious conversion. Additionally, the officials are also investigating this matter from the angle of human trafficking.
According to Hindu organisations, Kerala’s Kozhikode is becoming a hotspot from where Hindu girls are being sent to Dubai and other places. In the wake of this, they have demanded the arrest of the accused in this case as soon as possible.
