Mewat, the Muslim-dominated district in Haryana, has hogged the limelight after the news of the brutal murder of Nikita Tomar by one Tauseef, belonging to an influential family of Congress politicians, from the district came to the fore. Now, another incident of abduction and alleged forced conversion of a Hindu nurse has been reported from Nuh in Mewat, Haryana.
The father of a nurse has lodged a complaint at the Bichhor police station against a man identified as Muhammad Iqbal, a resident of Neemka village. Om Prakash, the father of the woman, alleged that Iqbal, who was stalking his daughter for the last six months and pressuring her to convert and marry him, abducted her as she refused to submit to his demands.
Iqbal was stalking the nurse and forcing her to convert for the last six months
Om Prakash, a resident of Mahindergarh, complained to the police on Thursday that his 24-year-old daughter was kidnapped from her workplace on October 26 and that her mobile was found to be switched off since the incident. He alleged that his daughter had told him last month that the suspect was stalking her and forcing her to convert and marry him.
Relevant sections of the IPC and SC/ST Act invoked for abducting and threatening the Nuh nurse
Based on the complaint a case has been registered and the 27-year-old Muhammad Iqbal, who works as an advocate, has been booked under sections 363 (punishment for kidnapping), 365 (kidnapping), 506 (criminal intimidation) and relevant sections of the SC/ST Act on Thursday for allegedly kidnapping and threatening a woman employed as a nurse at a primary health centre at Singar village in Nuh’s Punhana, earlier this week, since the Nurse was a Dalit.
Om Prakash, the father of the woman, said that when his daughter had visited them last month she appeared scared and stressed. She had asked him to speak to the police as she claimed that Iqbal was stalking her and was threatening her to marry him. “The man was forcing her to convert and marry him. She has been refusing his moves for the last six months but he often intercepted her way and forced her to speak to him,” he said.
Meanwhile, the additional station house officer (SHO) of Bichhor police station- Attar Singh said on Friday that they had conducted raids at suspected locations but were yet to recover the victim and the suspect. “We had gone to the village of the suspect. However, his father told us that although his son had come with a woman, they both left after staying in the village for a day. He has no idea where they have gone. We have taken the records of the call details of the suspect and the victim and are scanning them to get some leads in the case,” he said.
According to Hindi daily Amar Ujala, the couple were in love with each other and had solemnised a court marriage in Rajasthan HC on October 13.
Meanwhile, the Nuh police said that the last location of the two were in Nuh. However, since October 27, their mobile phones have been switched off.
Nuh police trying to crack the case
Singh said they were questioning the staff members of the hospital and villagers to know the exact details of the abduction and if the woman was held hostage in the village before the suspect shifted her to another location. “We will add more sections once we record the victim’s statement. Based on her statement, it will become clear whether the suspect stalked her and forced her to convert,” he said.
The SHO conformed that a six member team has been constituted to conduct the investigation into the case. He furthered that nine family members of Muhammad Iqbal have been interrogated until now and the police are also tracking their call details to trace the suspect, if he ever tries to contact them.
