The City of Damoh is making headlines on national television since the Hijab controversy around a private English medium school unfolded. In the month of June, as many as three cases of false identity trap for conversion, commonly referred to as ‘Love Jihad’ has come to light from the city of Madhya Pradesh.
In all these cases the accused men first forged their identity to lure Hindu women, later developed physical relationships with them, recorded everything and later started blackmailing them for conversion. Following their complaints FIRs have been registered and all the accused except one has been nabbed by the district police.
The first case was reported on June 5, from the Pathariya police station area. Here, one Waheed Khan, a resident of Sita Nagar area used to study with this woman in school. While they were still a minor, she clicked some of the pictures with him and now they are grown up Waheed is using the same pictures and have morphed some of them to defame her. He shared those pictures with the victim by using a fake social media accused.
Waheed kept pressurising the woman to convert and marry him or else he will share her pictures on social media. When she refused, he shared the pictures on Facebook by making a fake account with the name of the victim woman. Following this act, the woman filed a complaint against him. Notably, fearing his misdeeds the woman had previously left her college, she was pursuing her master of Arts from the district college.
After her complaint, the police arrested the accused Waheed Khan and sent him to Jail.
The other case was reported on June 20 from the Raneh police station area where a woman from a nearby village came to the city for treatment at Dr Sangtani’s clinic. The woman’s husband is a bus conductor and his friend Faizan Khan offered tea to the woman at bus stand, after taking a sip the woman went unconscious, he later made a physical relationship with her and also clicked some intimate pictures and videos.
Later against those videos, he started blackmailing her, he asked her to visit Damoh and meet him or else he will share the clips on social media and also with her friends and relatives. The blackmailing was going on since last eight months, when she did nt come Faizan shared the videos and pictures with her family, she filed a case against him and the accused has been arrested by the local police on instruction of the SP.
In the final case reported by Organiser on June 23 from the Bandakpur village of the city. The woman accused one Farooq of posing as Raju to lure her into a relationship when she was in Bengaluru. They fell in a relationship and later Farooq clicked some of her pictures and recorded videos, upon learning about his true identity, the woman refused to continue her relationship with him. Angered Farooq shared those pictures and videos on social media platform.
The victim in her complaint stated that she fears Farooq will kill and chop her into pieces, he has several videos and pictures of her which he is using to blackmail her. The matter is between two different states, the Madhya Pradesh police will file an FIR but as the accused lives in Bengaluru, the case and trial will continue in Bengaluru only.
As per the FIR the accused have been booked under IPC sections 506 (criminal intimidation), section 67a of the IT Act and 3 / 5 of the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act with sections 3(2)(va) of the SC-ST Act.
Additionally, the state Home Minister, Dr Narottam Mishra while interacting with media said, “We have sent a team to arrest the man from Bengaluru and he will be booked under the Madhya Pradesh Anti Conversion Law”
