Yasarkhan Pathan befriended the victim when pandemic Covid-19 had hit the country
Based on the victim's complaint, police have registered an FIR and arrested eight of the 10 accused.
Sarita* had one dream that one day she would definitely go to some foreign country to get a degree in nursing. If there was one thing she could die for, it was her nursing dream.
She did not know that it would be exploited by some crooks one day.
In 2020, when pandemic Covid-19 had hit the country, one Yasarkhan Pathan befriended her. She accepted his friendship proposal like any young girl. She could not sense that it was a casual friendship from her side, but from the other side, it was something else.
Slowly this casual friendship developed into a relationship. Sarita was happy that she had found the love of her life who was helping her in pursuing her dream.
When she expressed her desire that she wanted to pursue nursing in Poland, Pathan promised to help her in fulfilling her dream.
Over a period of time, he took five lakh rupees from Sarita on the pretext of arranging a visa and ticket for Sarita to go to Poland.
Sarita's family mortgaged some jewellery and property to arrange for the required money. Pathan convinced Sarita that the flight to Poland would be via Dubai, where there would be a short stay too.
On reaching Dubai, Sarita waited two weeks for her next flight to Poland. Then she realised that she had been trapped.
She demanded Pathan that she be returned to Gujarat. On returning to Gujarat, she was forcibly made to wear a burqa and recite Quran.
What happened next was a nightmare Sarita would never forget. Pathan's family members raped her on multiple occasions. When she refused to cooperate, she was badly thrashed.
Sarita somehow found an escape from her parents, who refused to take her back. She narrated how she was confined and sexually tortured.
The victim's family approached the Nadiad police, which registered an FIR against Yasarkhan Pathan and nine others, including Jabirkhan Pathan (accused's father), Faizalkhan Pathan (accused's brother), Shehnaz Khan Pathan (accused's mother), Suraiyakhan Pathan, Fardinkhan Saiyad, Faridabanu Malek, Nadim Malek, and Jay Kadam.
Yasarkhan Pathan is still absconding.
In June last year, Gujarat enacted the 'love jihad' law, which has strict punishment for those found involved in fraudulent conversions for marriages.
The Gujarat Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Act, 2021, enacted under then Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, penalises forcible or fraudulent religious conversion through marriage.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind has challenged the law in Gujarat High Court, where the matter is sub judice.
*Victim's name has been changed to protect her identity.
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