Navapura police in Vadodara, Gujarat have arrested one Muhammad Hussain Sheikh on charges of rape and intimidation. The victim, a married Hindu woman who lived in Hussain’s neighbourhood, alleged that the accused threatened her with her and her son’s life. He also threatened her with an acid attack and attempted to convert her to Islam.
The police have booked Muhammad Hussain Sheikh under IPC sections 376, 354(A)(D), 323, 506(2), 406 and 452, based on a complaint filed by the Hindu married woman.
The victim said in her complaint that Hussain repeatedly threatened to kill her child in order to coerce her into speaking to him. He raped her and also threatened her with an acid attack if she reported him to the police or her family. All her jewellery was also taken away by the accused, which he later sold.
The Hindu woman alleged that Hussain took her to a Dargah around 20 days after he sexually assaulted her, where she was offered sweets and rosewater and forced to wear a Tabiz (amulet) around her neck and black strings were tied to her legs. The victim said that this was an attempt to convert her to Islam.
According to the victim, Mohammed Hussain used to threaten her by saying, “I am a Muslim and you know what I can do. I’ll fix you and your child.”
On the basis of the woman’s complaint, Navapura police arrested the accused Mohammed Hussain and sent him to jail. Although the Hindu woman also alleged that the accused compelled her to convert to Islam, the police denied the conversion allegation and did not invoke any sections of the anti-conversion law in the case. The police, meanwhile, recovered the jewellery of the victim which the accused sold.
Further investigation into the case is ongoing, said the police.
