Both, Moeed Khan and his driver Raju Khan are facing charges under various sections of the POCSO Act and the criminal laws for allegedly gang-raping a 12-year-old Other Backward Class (OBC) girl in Ayodhya and recording the incident to use as blackmail against her for more than two months. The victim’s pregnancy-related health problems brought the crime to light.
The filing of the First Information Report was delayed. Since 2012, the police station has been housed on Moeed Khan’s land. Arrests were made following public outcry and an investigation into the matter is currently underway. Amid this, several Islamists on social media attempted to give a clean chit to the SP leader saying that his DNA reports didn’t match the foetus. They claimed that the name of the SP leader was unnecessarily dragged in the case for politics when the real accused who raped the girl had been confirmed as Raju Khan.
“Do you remember the Ayodhya rape case? The same case in which Moeed Khan’s name was forcibly dragged and defamed. Yes, the same Moeed Khan whose bakery was crushed by the constitutional bulldozer. Now the news is that Moeed Khan’s DNA did not match with the girl. Rather, the DNA of Raju, who works at the bakery, has matched. Yes, the same Raju who had a love affair with the girl,” said ‘journalist’ Ali Sohrab, a claimed activist against ‘islamophobia’.
अयोध्या रेप वाला मामला याद है?
— Ali Sohrab (@007AliSohrab) September 30, 2024
वही मामला जिसमें मोईद खान का नाम जबरन घसीट कर बदनाम किया गया…
जी हां वही मोईद खान जिनकी बैकरी को सांवैधानिक बुल्डोजर से रौंद दिया गया…
अब खबर है कि मोईद खान का DNA लड़की से मैच नहीं हुआ…
बल्कि बैकरी पर काम करने वाले राजू का DNA मैच हुआ है.
जी… pic.twitter.com/VkcoNnK0St
“Aditya Nath was going around the state propagating that Moeed Khan is a rapist. Now who will give an account of the open defamation of Muslims?” said Anishur Rahman. Another one indicated that all the media personnel who declared SP’s Moeed Khan as accused shall now apologize.
आदित्य नाथ बिष्ट पूरे प्रदेश मे घूम घूम कर प्रचार कर रहा था की मोईड खान रेपिस्ट है, और मुस्लिमों की खुल के बदनामी किया गया उसका हिसाब कौन देगा? #up #मोईद_खान https://t.co/Glxs19lQvP
— Anishur Rahman (@Anishur47188334) October 1, 2024
क्याAmanChopra_ माफी मागेगा ?
— Sajid Shaikh🇮🇳🇯🇴 (@sajidshekh7) October 1, 2024
की उसने एक बेकसूर इंसान कों आरोपी बना कर हिन्दु मुस्लिम रंग देने की कोशिश की ।
योगी ने भी बदनाम करने की कोशिश की अब क्या योगी माफी मांगेंगे।
ऐसे गोदी मीडिया बीजेपी के अघोषित प्रवक्ता कों शर्म आनी चाहिए अपने कर्मो पे ।#ayodhya #मोईद_खान pic.twitter.com/pPlWkBKsks
Wasim Akram Tyagi, a foul-mouthed Muslim fundamentalist who refers to himself as a ‘journalist’ on X, almost exonerated Moeed Khan because the DNA report of the foetus matched with his driver Raju Khan and not his. Perhaps, as per Tyagi, the proof of fatherhood is the single most important factor that establishes rape, possibly even in cases when rape has not led to impregnation.
लेकिन मोईद ख़ान का क्या दोष था? यही कि आरोपी मोईद का ड्राईवर था! तब उसकी मकन, दुकान पर बुलडोज़र चलाया? @UPGovt अपने इस पाप का प्रायश्चित करेगी? मोईद की जिस प्राॅपर्टी पर बुलडोज़र चलाया है, उसका पुनिर्माण कराएगी? और हां! @news24tvchannel यह लिखने में क्यों शर्म आ रही है कि मोईद… pic.twitter.com/Ndqd7HZg9y
— Wasim Akram Tyagi (@WasimAkramTyagi) September 30, 2024
A similar display of low IQ was exhibited by another Muslim fundamentalist masquerading as a journalist. Zakir Ali Tyagi shared an interview with Moeed Khan’s family members, who would obviously be vouching for his innocence, to claim that Khan was being framed in the matter and the DNA report only confirms it.
अयोध्या रेप मामलें में जेल भेजे गये मोईद खान के परिवार ने उसी दौरान कहां था कि मोईद को फंसाया जा रहा है, लड़की का राजू से अफ़ेयर है, लेकिन प्रशासन ने मोईद को मुख्यारोपी बता उसकी संपत्ति पर बुलडोजर चला दिया, अब मोईद खान का लड़की से DNA मैच नही हुआ है! pic.twitter.com/IPjKHU8fn7
— Zakir Ali Tyagi (@ZakirAliTyagi) September 30, 2024
It is crucial to note that though the DNA reports have not found a match of the SP leader in the foetus of the victim, it does not make him less of an accused as the burden of proof in rape incidents may not mandatorily depend upon impregnation. Rape is any type of sexual assault that involves engaging in sexual activity with another person without their consent. It generally includes penetration (vaginal, anal, or oral) by force, threat, or coercion, or when the victim is incapacitated and unable to provide informed permission (due to drugs, intoxication, unconsciousness, etc). It is a serious breach of a person’s autonomy and dignity, and it is punishable by law in many countries.
Victim’s testimony names both Moeed Khan and Raju Khan as gang-rape accused
Earlier, the testimony of the victim was also recorded in which she confirmed that she was gang raped by both the named accused persons. According to the minor victim, around 75 days ago, when she was returning home, Raju, a servant working in Moeed’s shop, lured the victim to his shop by offering her a toast. Since she had been going to the shop earlier as well, she trusted him and went there. It is alleged that both the accused took turns to rape her inside the shop and also recorded obscene video of the entire incident. By threatening to leak the video, they continued sexually exploiting the minor for over 2 months. As a result of continued sexual exploitation, the victim got pregnant.
However, the family came to know about the crime when her health deteriorated and she became pregnant.
It is further alleged that the Bhadarsa Police Station didn’t file an FIR in this matter for more than 30 hours. It is also alleged that since 2012, this Police station had been running from the house of the accused SP leader Moeed Khan. The incident took place in the Pura Kalandar police station area of Ayodhya. The accused SP leader Khan had a bakery shop near the Bhadarsa Outpost. The minor victim lives with her mother.
The Islamists also whined about the bulldozer action that was taken against the bakery of the accused person, SP leader Moeed Khan. Islamists claimed that the action was unnecessarily initiated against the SP leader. However, the bakery was sealed by the food adulteration department and was found illegal. Hence, the demolition of the said illegal property was conducted.
#WATCH | Uttar Pradesh | The bakery of SP leader Moeed Khan, the main accused in the gang rape of a minor girl, in Ayodhya bulldozed by the administration after it was found to be illegal. pic.twitter.com/BwSGVvEXaP
— ANI (@ANI) August 3, 2024
On October 8, the charges against the accused will be framed, and the trial will begin. The bail applications of the accused are under consideration at the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court. Both accused are currently in district jail, and their bail applications had previously been rejected by the local court.