On August 16, a fresh case of love jihad was reported from the capital city of Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow. The accused man, Irshad, posed as an ardent believer of Sanatan Dharma and introduced himself as Ishwar to trap the victim. Later, he forced her to convert even after marrying her as per Hindu ritual.
Following the complaint of the victim, the police initiated the probe and registered a complaint against the accused. The case has been registered at the Naka Hindola police station of Lucknow.
As per the reports, the victim stated in her statement to the police that she met Irshad in her colony, he was her nighbour. After an initial friendship, he lured her into a romantic relationship and later got married at a temple. The wedding ceremony was conducted as per Hindu rituals. After all of this, the duo eloped with each other.
As per the details available in the media, the accused used to visit temples, tie a sacred thread (Kalawa) on his hand and did everything a Hindu does. It was impossible to identify his true identity.
When the victim and ultimately her father learned about Irshad’s true identity, he lodged a complaint against him. His statement mentions both the abduction of his daughter and forced conversion. After much effort,, a case was registered against the culprit.
However, during that time the victim’s father discovered that his son-in-law was in fact, a Muslim and not a Hindu. He came to know about his real name and that he was a resident of the Barabanki district. It was also revealed that on 24 April the offender had called a cleric and his parents in order to convert his daughter against her will. He even assaulted her when she resisted.
He is still far from arrest, and teams are still looking for him.
A similar case from Ayodhya
In another case of a fake identity trap, a Dalit Hindu woman registered a complaint against one Shehnawaz in the Ayodhya district of Uttar Pradesh. She informed the police that the accused posed as Dilip and had married her in a temple. Later, he took her to his village, where he forcefully converted her to Islam, now forcing her son to undergo circumcision.
The victim, Malti said Dilip lived beside her shanty in Mumbai. He used to attend Durga Puja, Dusshera, and other festivals like Hindus did, it was impossible to believe that he was a Muslim.
He assured Malti that he will take care of her children, when he took her to his village a Maulana was sitting in his house. They all made her put her thumb impression on a document written in Urdu.
Later, the Maulana asked her to recite Kalma in Urdu, to which Malti said, she did not know how to say it. However, even after this documented nikah, Malti kept living with Shehnawaz.
Shehnawaz was a married man like Malti, but his first wife did not live with him.
Malti said after Shehnawaz was arrested by the police but she was rushed home by the police officers. Now she is receiving threatening calls from his family members who said, “We have money and will surely get our brother out, then we will tell you who we are. At least, he slept with you, no one can stop us from getting him bailed out”.
