After 11 years of her marriage and two children, a Dalit Hindu woman who had conversion-nikah with a Muslim man recently approached the Bareilly police in Uttar Pradesh for help. In her complaint, she alleged that her husband, after luring her into a relationship, forcefully converted her, kept her locked in a room for several years and his family members raped her.
Citing the seriousness of the matter, Bareilly police registered a case against the accused, Sadiq Hussain, under charges of rape and the Uttar Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act.
The accused has been arrested by the police.
A First Information Report (number—007/2023) was registered at the Cantt police station of Bareilly district on 5 January.
Bareilly police released a press note from their official Twitter handle regarding the case, which is attached below:
As per the note, the victim reached the police with a complaint letter stating her husband Sadiq Hussain, a resident of the Maseetganj Gautiya area, lured her into a relationship 11 years ago. She accused Hussain of raping her and converting her to Islam with the help of his family members.
She underwent a ‘nikah’ post-conversion. They kept her captive and used to beat her up, added the victim. They also threatened her with murder.
The Cantt police booked the accused under IPC sections 363 (abduction), 366 (abducting woman to compel her marriage), 376 (rape), 344 (wrongful confinement), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation) and sections 3/5(1) of the Uttar Pradesh freedom of religion Act with sections 3(2)(5) of the Scheduled Castes Prevention of Atrocities Act, commonly called as the SC-ST Act.
As per the statement given to the media, the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Akhilesh Chourasiya, said that a woman has given a complaint as per which the accused, who belongs to another religion, lured her into a relationship and then converted her. She has mentioned that they kept her hostage for years. An investigation is underway and they have registered a case against the accused, the officer said.
As per a report by Dainik Jagran, 11 years ago, Hussain began visiting the victim’s house often, and he lured her into a relationship. She was immature as she was just 14 years old and hence eloped with him. They got married.
The woman has alleged that not only Hussain but his family members also made forced physical relations with her. Three men other than Hussain raped her, says the report.
She tried escaping from their house but failed every time. Whenever they found her leaving the house, they beat her up.
The woman comes from the Nat jaati which falls under scheduled castes. She is a native of Badaun district.
She told the media that after eloping with Hussain, he took her to his house where they kept her in a room. Over the years, she gave birth to two children – a son (9) and a daughter (7). Hussain’s family started believing that she would not go anywhere. Whenever she tried leaving his house, she was harassed.
The accused, as per reports, is a dancer by profession and runs a DJ system for parties and events.
As per a report by Amar Ujala, her family broke ties with her.
The woman somehow managed to escape from Hussain’s house a few days ago and reached Bareilly to her maternal aunt’s house. She told everything to her family, after which they reached Bisauli police station. A case was later registered at the Cantt police station.
The woman first reached the Subhash Nagar police station where the police called up Hussain and asked them to settle the matter. The next day (4 January), the woman reached Bisauli police station, but she had not brought a written complaint. Hence the police asked her to come another day.
The woman told the media that Hussain said he would chop her into pieces if she dares to get out of his house.
Listen to her statement here:
The police arrested Hussain on 6 January from near his house.
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