A chilling case of Love Jihad has rattled Hyderabad after police arrested a Pakistani-origin man, Fahad, for deceiving a Hindu woman into marriage and forcing her religious conversion. The case, emerging from the upmarket Banjara Hills area, has raised serious questions about forged identity documents, security loopholes, and the safety of women against predatory networks operating in disguise.
According to police, Fahad concealed his Pakistani origins and produced forged papers to secure both employment and residency in Hyderabad. In 2016, he lured a Hindu woman, Kirti, and coerced her into embracing Islam, renaming her Doha Fatima, before marrying her. Fahad was employed at Sipal, a company located in Hi-Tech City, and maintained a seemingly normal life with his wife until his pattern of deceit was exposed.
The façade collapsed when Kirti discovered that Fahad had entrapped another woman at his workplace in the same manner. Betrayed and devastated, Kirti found the courage to approach the police, leading to Fahad’s arrest. The police have since initiated an investigation into charges of forced religious conversion, deception in marriage, and the use of forged documents.
Police investigations revealed that Fahad’s father was a Pakistani national, while his mother hailed from Hyderabad. He entered India with his mother in 1998 after his father’s death. Remarkably, Fahad obtained Indian citizenship only in 2018—two years after he had already married Kirti under questionable identity credentials. Authorities are now scrutinising whether Fahad exploited forged Aadhaar, PAN, and voter IDs prior to his naturalisation and whether other unsuspecting women may have fallen prey to his methods.
Despite years of trauma, Kirti displayed remarkable courage in exposing Fahad’s deception. Her determination, police said, has potentially prevented other women from being exploited in similar ways. Hyderabad Police have assured strict action against Fahad and others engaged in such fraudulent marriages.
The shocking case has rekindled debates over fraudulent marriages, religious coercion, and the infiltration of Pakistani-origin individuals into sensitive urban sectors through forged papers. The probe is expected to widen as authorities trace Fahad’s activities over the last two decades and verify his network of associates.
