‘I Am A Victim Of Love Jihad,’ Says Dalit Woman Who Accused A Muslim Man Of Faking Identity And Raping Her

In yet another case of this pattern, a Hindu woman from Uttar Pradesh accused a Muslim man this month of hiding his religion and posing as a Hindu to trap and sexually exploit her.

Based on the woman’s complaint, the police in Uttar Pradesh’s capital Lucknow booked the man for rape and fraud.

Sections of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989,have been invoked as the woman belongs to the scheduled ‘chamar’ caste.

The woman, Anju Gautam (name changed, surname retained), is 25 years old and works as a househelp.

Her statement recorded in the first information report (FIR) says that around three months ago, she met a man who introduced himself as ‘Vishal Singh Thakur’. The two entered into a relationship. The man made Anju meet his brother, introducing him as Vikas.

The man promised her marriage. He began asking her for money every now and then. Anju’s complaint says that she gave the man Rs 249,000 on one such occasion. He entered into sexual relations with her frequently.

The complaint further says that in October, she gave him another Rs 47,000. However, he switched off his phone and became unreachable shortly after.

When Anju went to his room to inquire about him, the landlord told her that Vishal’s real name is ‘Nawajis-bin-Shams’. Anju also learnt that Vikas’s real name is Asim Ahmed.

The FIR (number 235/2021) was filed at Aliganj Police Station on 6 November.

Nawajis and his brother Asim have been booked under IPC sections 376 (rape), 406 (breach of trust), 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating & dishonesty) and 506 (criminal intimidation).

Anju told Swarajya that the accused are absconding. She said the police have not recorded her statement before the magistrate under Section 164 of the CrPC even after several weeks have passed. She alleged that the police did not register her case until 6 November even though she gave her complaint on 28 October.

When Swarajya called up the Aliganj Police Station two days ago (23 November), station house officer (SHO) Deependra Singh said that the case has been transferred to ACP Ghazipur and thus he cannot comment on it.

At Ghazipur Kotwali, officer-in-charge Madhu Singh said no such case has been transferred to the police station.

In a reply to a user on 16 November, the official Twitter account of Lucknow police commissionerate said that the police were making efforts to arrest the accused.

(We will update the report when we are able to contact the investigating officer concerned).

In a telephonic conversation the same day (23 November), Anju told Swarajya that she met Nawajis while working at a house near Purniya Chauraha. ‘Vishal’ told her he worked as a security guard for a bank.

She said that 21 October was the last time she saw him. Nawajis and Asim would be often accompanied by two men, who she has now found out are his friends Intezar and Irfan.

She said Nawajis was abusive from the very beginning of their relationship, but she carried on as he convinced her every time that violence is a normal feature of any relationship.

She then dropped a bomb: When Nawajis had sex with her the first time, his brother Asim held her by her hands. “I felt strange. I objected to it. But he convinced me there was nothing wrong in it since my brother was family,” the woman said.

A helpless Anju says her savings of 10 years have been stolen. Anju has three siblings – an elder brother, and a younger sister and brother. Her father is a daily wage labourer while her mother works as a househelp as well.

“Nawajis would tell me that if I was ready to give my life to him, why could I not part with my money? He brainwashed me into believing him,” Anju told a journalist in a video statement made after filing the police case.

In the same statement, Anju said that she was a victim of ‘love jihad’.

Watch the statement here.