The Allahabad High Court has refused bail to Chand Babu for raping a Hindu woman under a false pretext of marriage and concealing his identity. The victim informed the police that Chand Babu had introduced himself as Vishal. The case against the accused was registered u/s 376(2)(n), 420 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 3/5 UP Prevention of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act at Police Station Kotwali, District Bareilly.
The accused had moved the Allahabad High Court after Additional Sessions Judge (Fast Track Court), Bareilly, rejected his bail application on December 16, 2022.
The state’s counsels argued that it was a case where the accused withheld his religious identity and introduced himself as a Hindu. The accused raped the victim with the false promise of marriage. It was also submitted that when the victim found out about his identity and refused to convert, he threatened her and tried to discontinue the relationship. The counsels submitted that the accused later raped the victim under the threat of putting up unsolicited photographs on social media platforms.
The accused’s counsel argued that the victim honey-trapped the accused and started blackmailing him. Furthermore, the counsel claimed that no unsolicited photographs were recovered. The counsel further said, “Victim has not raised any alarm and tried to lodge FIR despite she alleged that she was repeatedly raped for about 4-5 months.”
The court rejected the accused’s contention that he was a victim of honeytrap. The court said, “In the present case the main argument of learned counsel for applicant was that the applicant was victim of honeytrap, however, there is no material even prima facie in support of this submission except bald assertions.”
The court noted that the victim’s name in the hotel’s register was shown as Neha Khan, whereas her signature was in the name of Seema. In addition, the court observed that the victim was unaware that her name was shown as Neha Khan in the register.
The court noted, “In view of above discussion and considering facts of present case, it does not appear to be a case of honeytrap, rather it is a case of trap made by applicant by representing himself to be a person of different religion and trapped victim to have physical relationship against her will and later on under threat of putting her unsolicited photographs on social media platforms.” Thus, the court rejected Chand Babu’s bail application.
The court also directed the trial court to record the victim’s statement, if not already recorded, within four months from today if there is no other legal impediment.
Love Jihad in Bareilly
Recently, another incident of love jihad came to the fore from Bareilly, where Abid, posing as Bablu, lured a Hindu woman into marrying him and converted her to Islam. The victim also revealed that Abid forced her to undergo Nikah Halala with his father. It was reported that the victim runs a beauty parlour in Bareilly’s Karmchari Nagar.
Based on the 30-year-old victim’s complaint, the police have registered a case against Abid, his father Raja Bhai Arif, his mother Begum and sister-in-law Soni for forcefully converting the victim to Islam. The victim informed the police that she met Abid in 2018 for the first time. She revealed that Abid introduced himself as Bablu. She also said he wore a kalava on his wrist and sported a tilak on his forehead. He obtained her phone number and began calling her, later the two fell in love.
She also revealed that Abid established sexual relations on the pretext of marriage. The two got married in a temple in 2018. The accused also recorded the victim while engaging in sexual intercourse, which he later used to threaten and blackmail the victim. Later the victim learned that the accused is a Muslim named Abid, not a Hindu.
She revealed to the police that Abid took her to his house, where he forced her to consume beef. He further compelled the victim to convert to Islam and have a Nikah with his family members’ support. He also imposed a condition to accept the victim as his wife, that she has to undergo Nikah Halala with Abid’s father, Raja Bhai Arif.
Furthermore, the victim revealed that the accused and his family kept her hostage for about four years, during which Abid raped her several times. On May 20, the victim managed to escape captivity and reached a Subhash Nagar PS and filed a complaint.
Furthermore, on May 31, Organiser reported that a Hindu woman Dhan Devi, assuming Aalim is a Hindu, continued her friendship with him. She was said to take computer classes in Rajendra Nagar, where one Mohammad Aalim was also enrolled. Aalim, a resident of Jadavpur, had introduced himself as a Hindu youth Anand; he also used to tie kalawa in his hands.
On the pretext of marriage, he made a physical relationship with her. Then Aalim recorded his intimate moments with Devi and later started blackmailing her. He even threatened to put up her video on the internet if she refused to make a physical relationship with him.
In March, when the victim girl became pregnant, he informed the accused Aalim about that, though Aalim again took her to Rajrani Hotel and forced her to have physical relations with him. Growing suspicious about his activities, the victim Devi shortly visited the accused house in Jadavpur, where she learned about the real identity of the accused, Aalim.
On May 5, the accused, Aalim, provided Devi with an abortion kit and sent her home. However, after taking the pill, Devi’s health deteriorated following which the accused asked Devi to come to his place again. When Devi reached Aalim’s house, she was sent with the accused to get an abortion in a private clinic in Hafeez Ganj on May 11. After aborting the child, the victim was also threatened by the accused and his family with dire consequences. They said they would not spare her alive if she ever chose to speak about the incident to anyone. However, after a couple of weeks, the victim Devi mustered courage and registered a complaint against the accused in the Deoraniya police station of Bareilly on May 29.
