DEHRADUN: Nainital police has registered a case against five persons in connection with forced conversion on Tuesday. Police have registered the first case under new anti-conversion law. Uttarakhand Assembly had recently passed a law on religious conversion.
According to sources, a Muslim man allegedly changed his name to befriend a young woman and then forced her to convert after allegedly raping her. It is alleged that Saqib Saifi alias Shiv Thakur, a resident of Bambagar, changed his name and befriended a young woman. He allegedly raped her after they became close. At the same time, he also put pressure on the woman to change her religion. When the girl came to know about Saqib’s reality, she resisted and approached the police for help.
Nainital Senior Superintendent of Police Pankaj Bhatt said, “The report has been filed under Section 3 of the Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion Act. However, it can be placed in the category of pressure for conversion, not conversion. In the new government order, there is a provision of strict punishment for the accused. After the order comes, action will be taken according to the new rule.”
Confirming the statement of a senior police officer, Circle Officer Bhouwali, Baljit Singh Bhakuni said, “After a medical examination, the victim’s statement under Section 164 will be taken and further action will be taken based on her statements.” “The accused wanted to convert the girl on the pretext of marriage, the girl refused to convert and then she was physically abused,” he added.
“The woman lodged a complaint against Saqib alleging that the accused assaulted her and threatened to kill her,” said SHO Ramnagar, Arun Kumar Saini. “Saqib Saifi, Saba, Yunus, Rahila and Ghazala have been booked under sections 323, 354/354D, 376, 504/506 and the Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion Act 2018,” added SHO.
Woman files FIR
According to sources, a Muslim man allegedly changed his name to befriend a young woman and then forced her to convert after allegedly raping her. When the girl came to know about Saqib’s reality, she resisted and approached police for help