The father of an 8-year-old Jain boy is running from post to pillar to get him back from his wife, who converted to Islam and also got his son circumcised by her paramour. The accused, Iliyas Qureshi, is a repeated offender, as he was earlier sentenced to ten years of imprisonment under charges of the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offence) Act.
Notably, the minor’s father, Mahesh Nahata, has made shocking revelations related to the accused, including his links with the banned radical Islamic organisation PFI (Popular Front of India).
Mahesh, a native of Badmer district in Rajasthan, got married to Prarthna, a native of Shajapur district in Madhya Pradesh, back in 2014. They had a son in 2015 and were quite happy in their marriage until 2018. While returning from a family event from Ratlam (MP) to Badmer, Prarthna left Mahesh with her son. She eloped with her love, Iliyas Qureshi, a native of Shajapur.
Since then, Mahesh has been looking for his wife; he has filed as many as four FIRs at different police stations in both Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. He raided as many as seven places while tracking Prarthna and Iliyas with the police.
The FIRs registered in this case so far
As per the First Information Report (number–572/2023) registered at the Khjarana police station on July 15, 2023. The complainant, Mahesh Nahata, informed the police of the forced circumcision of his 8-year-old son, Manan Jain, and his conversion to Islam via fake documents.
Nahata stated that he is a native of the Siwana village of Badmer and married Prarthana Shivhare, a native of Dupada Road, Shajapur, on June 30, 2014. From their marriage, they had a son on July 20, 2015.
They named the child Manan Jain (Organiser, believes in protecting the identity of minors; however, in this case, the name of the boy has already been revealed by various media houses). We also got permission from Mahesh regarding the same.
On February 25, 2018, Prarthana visited her father’s house in Shajapur with Manan. On March 29, 2018, Mahesh reached Shajapur to take them back with him. However, as the bus stopped by the Salakhedi square in Ratlam, he woke up from a small nap and found them missing.
Mahesh registered a missing persons report in Ratlam (FIR–21/2018), but on recovery, it was revealed that Prarthana eloped with Iliyas Qureshi and she did not want to come with him. She stated that she is a grown-up woman and wishes to live with Iliyas and not Mahesh.
As she took Manan with him, Mahesh moved a plea regarding his custody at the Shajapur court. Prarthana’s location was unknown, hence the plea was quashed.
A few days ago, Mahes found that Prarthana was living with Iliyas Qureshi in Indore, and they had forcefully circumcised his son, Manan. The duo has also made his documents with a Muslim name. The accused, Iliyas, has not only forced Prarthana to embrace Islam; he is also doing the same with Manan.
Following this complaint, the accused Iliyas was booked under IPC sections 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), 471 (making electronic or other documents with dishonesty), and sections 3 / 4 of the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act.
Apart from this, two complaints (FIR numbers–126/2018 and 87/2018) against Iliyas were filed by Mahesh in Badmer’s Siwana police station. These complaints were registered, alleging Iliyas and Prarthana were demanding money from Mahesh in order to return his son.
As per the court order shared by Mahesh with the Organiser, following his complaint at the Ratlam police station, the police recovered Prarthana and Iliyas from Ahmedabad on July 17, 2018. By then, Prarthana was totally manipulated by the accused.
On August 2, 2018, Mahesh received a call from Iliyas, who demanded a sum of Rs 5,00,000 in exchange for his son Manan.
Following Mahesh’s complaints, the court directed the accused Iliyas to be booked under IPC sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 109 (bribing), 498 (taking away a married woman), and 384 (extortion). The court also instructed the police to book Prarthana under IPC Section 406 (criminal breach of trust).
Iliyas abducted Prarthana while she was still a minor
This correspondent called Mahesh on July 18, while he was still in Indore, waiting to get his son’s custody.
When asked to share the details from the beginning, Mahesh said, “I met Prarthana on the social media platform, Facebook, back in 2013, while she was still a minor. We started chatting, and in 2014, we decided to get married. The next year, we were blessed with our son, Manan.”
Sharing a court order, Mahesh said, “After all of this happened, I found Iliyas had abducted Prarthana before she met him. Her mother, Kamlesh, registered an FIR against him, after which she was recovered. Following her complaint, Iliyas was booked under sections 363 (kidnapping), 366 (abduction), and 3762(n) (repeated rapes) of the IPC.”
As per the court order, Iliyas was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment with a fine of Rs 12,000. However, he was released on bail within 8 months of this judgment.
By the time Iliyas came out, Prarthana was with Mahesh. After marriage, she started talking to him and told Mahesh that everything ended between her and Iliyas before marriage.
Iliyas changed Manan’s name to Mohammad Manaan Ahmed
Mahesh shared a copy of the birth certificate of the minor boy with Organiser. The certificate shows the name of the boy as, Mohammad Manaan Ahmed, son of Iliyas Ahmed and Prarthana. The certificate shows it has been issued by Maharaja Yeshwant Rao Government Hospital, Indore. The date of issue is March 9, 2023.
Mahesh claims the certificate is fake because his son was born in Badmer and not Indore. He also shared his picture with Prarthana and Manan.
For 8 years Iliyas did not send Manan to school
Mahesh told Organiser that, Iliyas has been playing with the future of his son, as after taking Prarthana and Manan with him, he was not sending him to any school. In 2023, he finally decided to send him to a school in an Islamic area, where only Muslim students study.
He has also circumcised Manan, Mahesh confirmed following a detailed medical test.
The PFI link
Mahesh said, Iliyas’s brothers, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Saeed Hafiz, both are active members of the banned radical Islamic group PFI. He wishes to inculcate the same radical Islamic practices in Manan as well.
NCPCR issued notice
The National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), taking cognizance of the matter issued a letter to the District Magistrate, Indore, Ilayaraja T on July 19. The commission directed the officer to set the child free from illegal detention of the minor boy.
The letter stated that the child was forcefully circumcised by the accused Isliyas in order to convert him to Islam. The commission demanded an action report within two days.
The Current situation
Organiser called Mahesh on July 20, while he was at the district court in Indore. He said, the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), Indore has taken suo-motu cognizance of the matter. The commission, based on the minor’s statement, will further decide, where he will go.
Mahesh said, Manan has lived with him since he was an infant child, growing up he never saw him, so it is less likely that he will choose him as guardian. However, he will try his best to take him home.
Mahesh said, now that Iliyas is under arrest, he does not want to separate his son from his mother. So, if Prarthana wants, she can move to Badmer and live there, so that Manan can have both his parents.
Mahesh runs a grain shop in Siwana. Since the day Prarthana left him with Manana, he has been chasing them, just to make sure his son gets a better life. After 9 years, he managed to get the accused Iliyas arrested, but Manan is still under the custody of child bodies.
Mahesh’s family has been forcing him to leave Prarthana and get married, but he had only one goal in life, to give a better future to his son.
Mahesh is a Digambar Jain and says, “Madam, in our community, we serve people whom we don’t even know, how can I leave my son to live all by himself or with people like Iliyas, who may end up making him a terrorist and nothing less.”
He added, the accused should be booked under the stringent NSA and his residence should be bulldozed.
