On July 27, consecutive cases of forced religious conversions on the pre-text of marriages by Islamists and grooming by co-religionists came to light from the Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra. The First case in the list had a usual ‘Love Jihad’ FIR where a victim girl alleged that the accused lured her into a fake love trap and later forced her to convert. But other cases showed that multiple persons have been involved in the grooming, including tuition teachers and others. It has been alleged that the teacher used her coaching as a place for grooming and providing Muslim boys a place to trap Hindu girls.
After the FIRs were registered against the culprits the local Muslim organisations and leaders came into action, they filed a counter-FIR against Hindu activists alleging that they barged into a nearby Mosque and created a ruckus. Shockingly, the parents of the victim girls are forced to stop their daughters from going to educational institutions fearing grooming and love of Jihad.
A little Background
Amidst the lack of a dedicated law to curb the cases of Love Jihad in Maharashtra, Ahmednagar is becoming a hotbed of such crimes. On July 28, 2023, a minor Hindu girl gave a complaint to the police in the Rahuri region of Ahmednagar district. In her complaint, she accused as many as eight individuals of luring her into a fake love trap for conversion.
In her complaint, the minor named her tuition teacher as co-accused with seven others, saying, she used to force them to wear Hijab and follow Islamic religious practices. The local Muslims used to assemble in the coaching even if they do not study there, the motive was to trap Hindu girls. She alleged that the teacher used to promote them to allow these boys into their lives.
What did FIR say?
As per the First Information Report (number–822/2023) registered at the Rahuri police station of the Ahmednagar district on July 28, the accused persons have been identified as Avej Nisar Sheikh, Kaif Sheikh, Sohail Sheikh, Heena Sheikh (tuition teacher), Alisha Sheikh, Salim Pathan, Altaf Sheikh, and Shakir Sayyed.
They were all booked under IPC sections 354 (assault), 354D (sextortion), 109 (offering bribe), 34 (act done by several people with common intention), with other sections 8 and 12 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offense (POCSO) Act.
Notably, they have all been arrested by the police.
The victim is a native of Umbre village in the Rahuri area. In her statement to the police, the victim said, she along with her friends who study in standard 10th had joined tuition classes at accused Heena Sheikh’s home. The girls joined the tuition classes in the year 2021 and continued to attend the classes until the incident broke out.
Tuition teacher’s role
She alleged that Sheikh allowed boys from other community to come into the coaching centre with them, even if they were not studying there. She used to ask the girls to be friends with them and speak in Hindi only. The victim girl in the complaint said that the boys (other accused booked) had nothing to do with the tuition but were allowed to sit with them given the permission of Sheikh.
Shockingly, Sheikh asked the Hindu girls to wear burqa in the coaching. She also wanted the girls to stop wearing bangles and apply kumkum on their foreheads.
What did the victim say?
“One day while I was going home, one of the accused Avej stopped me and told me that he liked me. Initially, he showed so much respect towards women, so I decided to be friends with him. Later, he began establishing casual contact with my brother and started coming home. In the due period he also told me that he loved me and that he could not stay without me,” the victim girl said in the complaint.
He began messaging the minor girl on her mobile. As their friendship grew the victim believed him and sent some of her pictures, Avej started using these pictures to blackmail her later.
“I also had started believing him. One day he told me to quit the Hindu religion and run away with him. He said that many people from his community in the village knew about our relationship and that they were all ready to help us with money, home and other resources. All he wanted is just me to say yes. But I didn’t. The next thing I knew is he cut his hand and pressured me to talk to him and convert my religion to Islam,” the girl was quoted as saying.
Avej was not alone in luring the minor victim to his trap, he was accompanied by his sister Alisha. Alisha met the victim girl and told her that Avej was madly in love with her and that he wanted to talk to her.
“One day during tuition hours, I heard Kaif and Sohail talking to Avej. The duo were provoking Avej to abduct me. They said that they would manage the home and some money for us and that abducting me was the only good option. I felt something serious wrong was happening here and so I stopped talking to Avej,” the girl said.
“This happened somewhere in 2021. I was too scared to tell about this incident at home. After that my father took away my phone and asked me to concentrate on exams,” the victim added.
The victim girl also mentioned in the complaint that she was forced to wear a burqa by Alisha and Avej and told to behave like Muslim girls by her tuition teacher Heena.
Ahmednagar hotbed of love jihad
The victim in this case is not the only girl who fell prey to the tactics of Avej, there have been three such girls. As per media reports, Avej trapped three victim girls in a love affair and then made plans with his friends to abduct them.
“She used to offer us Shirkhurma on Eid and say that it is mandatory in their religion to click a selfie after having Shirkhurma. And then our images were morphed and misused to blackmail us to be in relationships with the Muslim boys,” one of the victims in her complaint filed on July 29 said.
Notably, a victim said, around 7-8 girls have been targeted to date but only three of us have registered official complaints. She said that she and other girls had to go through a lot due to the tuition teacher and the accused boys.
Two other FIRs registered against him are FIR (number-823/2023, on July 29 at Rahuri police station) and the other FIR (number-818/2023 at Rahuri police station on July 27). Copy of the FIRs attached below:
No FIR until Hindu activists intervened
It has been reported that initially, the administration was reluctant in registering the FIR in this case. The action was taken only after BJP MLA Prasad Lad raised the issue in the State legislative assembly and demanded action in the case.
Condemning the incident Lad said, the local administration brutally assaulted some of the local people and members of local Hindu organisations who tried to unearth the truth of the case. He said that the CCTV footage of the event is also available.
Notably, the locals and the villagers observed massive protests on July 26 and July 27 after which the police accepted the complaint of the victims and then the accused persons were arrested.
Muslim side registered counter FIR
One of the accused Salim Pathan registered a counter FIR on Hindu activists claiming that they barged into the Mosque and created a ruckus. He did not stop here as he added, the Hindus well equipped with rods and sticks damaged the Mosque structure. Alleging this, Pathan filed an FIR against as many as 25 Hindus.
A First Information Report (number–817/2023) was registered in this case against 25 Hindus under sections 295 (damaging place of worship), 295A (outraging religious feelings), 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting with a deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly damaging an object), 427 (mischief causing damage), 504 (intentionally insulting), 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC and other sections of the Bombay Police Act.
Following the complaint police arrested 25 Hindus named in the FIR. “This is all a part of the plan. 25 active Hindu activists have been deliberately targeted and these people have nothing to do with the case in the first place. Also, some of the Hindu members were brutally beaten by the local police while they gathered to meet the victim girls and help them. The CCTV footage of the incident is available. Also, MLA Lad has raised this issue in the Council and sought attention,” the Hindus told the media.
Villagers stopped sending daughters to school
Following the incident, the Umbre Gram Panchayat Karyalaya issued a notice stating that fearing the local Muslim men they will stop sending their daughters to school. A copy of the notice was made available on social media, it read, “We won’t send our girls to school from now onwards. All the parents in the village have decided that no girl will go to school unless the administration assures the security of our children. We all are terrified by the incident and are concerned about the safety and security of our girls. Our girls will do domestic chores instead and survive for their life if this is what they have to face at the places of education,” the letter read.
“The Police should take back the false cases lodged against Hindus who came forward to help the victim girls and their families. The Hindus were also brutally beaten by the police and the parents of the victim girls were also harassed,” the letter indicated demanding strict action against the police officer who booked Hindus and assaulted them based on the alleged false accusations imposed by the accused Muslims.
Noted!
I will visit Ahmadnagar to inquire into the case. https://t.co/Gkjt6XjHl9— प्रियंक कानूनगो Priyank Kanoongo (@KanoongoPriyank) July 31, 2023
Taking note of the matter the Chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), Priyank Kanoongo informed from his official Twitter account, that considering the seriousness of the matter he will be visiting the town to meet the victims.
He wrote on Twitter, “Today, to investigate the complaints related to the coaching operator from Rahuri town of Agmadnagar district, police harassing the families for protesting against the grooming of minor girls for the allurement of religious conversion and girls not going to school due to this. Reaching Rahuri at night.”
महाराष्ट्र के अगमदनगर ज़िले के राहुरी क़स्बे से कोचिंग संचालक द्वारा नाबालिग बच्चियों को धर्मांतरण के प्रलोभन के लिए ग्रूमिंग किए जाने व विरोध करने पर परिजनों को पुलिस द्वारा प्रताड़ित किए जाने के आरोप तथा इसके चलते बच्चियों के स्कूल न जाने सम्बंधित शिकायतों की जाँच के लिए आज…
— प्रियंक कानूनगो Priyank Kanoongo (@KanoongoPriyank) August 5, 2023
Hindus granted bail in lack of evidence
As per a ground report by OpIndia, out of 25 detained Hindus, 13 were granted bail. The report said they alleged that they have been ill-treated in police custody. One of the released Hindu activists said they have been intentionally targeted for helping Hindu victims and highlighting cases of Love Jihad.
He said, “We were not present at the time when the probable ruckus happened in the Masjid area. We are not denying that some ruckus might have happened around the Masjid that day but none of the arrested Hindu members were present at the spot when the incident happened”.
