Among the several cases of Grooming Jihad and subsequent cases of forced conversions and harassment of Hindu girls that have been reported in Kanpur, one victim has narrated her story in harrowing details. As per a report in Zee News, the girl, one of the many victims of Grooming Jihad in Kanpur, has stated that a man named Sahil had met her 2 years ago pretending to be ‘Sachin Sharma’.
The girl has narrated further that Sahil alias Sachin Sharma used to apply Chandan paste and wear a Kalawa to falsely pretend that he is Hindu. He used to even take the girl to temples. After winning her trust, Sahil had allegedly convinced the girl to come with him away to Noida. As per the Zee News story, in Noida, when the girl came to know about Sahil’s real identity, he had forced her to consume meat and even beef, telling her that she is no longer a Hindu.
Eventually, Sahil became more assertive and later forcefully converted her. Her name was changed to ‘Zoya’. Later Sahil allegedly started forcing her to ‘provide pleasure’ to one Maulvi. As per the girl’s story, she was repeatedly sent to the Maulvi to be sexually exploited. When she got pregnant, Sahil’s family allegedly started pressurising her to abort.
The girl has added that they performed an illegal sex-determination test on her foetus and when they came to know that she was carrying a girl, they decided to ‘keep’ the child, saying that she can be ‘used’ in the future.
The threat of violence and murder
The victim has further narrated that she was unable to seek help from her family members as they were unhappy with her relationship with Sahil and she had gone with him against their wishes. The victim has stated that the only help she got was from her grandmother in Kanpur. Gathering courage, she left Sahil and started living with her grandmother in Kanpur.
Later, Sahil allegedly came to Kanpur and started threatening the victim, saying that if she doesn’t do whatever he commands, he would have her newborn girl murdered, kill her too or make her intimate videos viral. Scared by his threats, the victim started living with Sahil’s family in Kanpur. Sahil went back to Noida.
Later, Sahil’s family also started torturing the victim. They started forcing her to formally change her religion. Fed up with the torture, the victim again escaped from their house. One day, Sahil talked to her and convinced her to meet him outside. When she reached there, he attacked her with a knife. However, the victim was saved when bystanders intervened. She was taken to a hospital for treatment. She later registered an FIR against Sahil.
UP govt’s law against forced conversion under pretext of marriage
The increasing number of cases where non-Muslim girls are being targeted and trapped under false identities and are later being forced into religious conversions, torture and sexual exploitation, has forced the government of UP to pass an ordinance named The bill is titled Uttar Pradesh Vidhi Virudhh Dharm Samparivartan Pratisdhedh Adhyadesh, 2020 or UP Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Ordinance- 2020.
