‘Serious Case’: UP Court Denies Bail To Man Who Faked Identity To Trap And Convert A Woman

A victim of unlawful conversion or, ‘love jihad’, from Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr district has received a significant boost in her quest for justice as the culprit's bail plea has been rejected by the court.

The court pronounced the order on 16 August, denying bail to Mohammad Intaak in view of “seriousness” of the case.

As per the 22-year-old Hindu Dalit woman‘s complaint to the police in July, she was cheated by Intaak, who had concealed his Muslim identity and introduced himself as Aman Sharma.

See excerpts from the order below:

The case was reported by Swarajya in July. Below is a narration of the case:

The woman told Swarajya that Intaak convinced her to enter into a relationship despite her misgivings over difference in their castes. He also had sexual intercourse with her several times over the course of two years. He, however, kept delaying her proposals for marriage.

She said that Intaak finally revealed his true identity to her utter shock, but since there was no way that her family would have agreed to an alliance with a Muslim, and given that they had moved so far ahead in their relationship, she decided she would elope with Intaak if the need arose.

Intaak would often ask her for money and she even stole from her home to help him, the woman said. Intaak had allegedly fleeced her of Rs 50,000-60,000 in this manner, she said.

However, a bigger shock awaited her. Intaak took her to a madrassa, where a maulvi made her recite the kalma and sign a piece of paper. The paper carried text written in Urdu, which the woman could not understand. She was told that she had been converted to Islam and her new name was Rehaana.

She was in a fix. The man for whom she had even stolen money from her father and had even agreed to go against her family to marry him seemed a changed person.

She said that the next day when she met Intaak, who is a Meo by caste, he said that he was set to marry someone else and the only way he could marry a 'chamaari' (a tanner, who is considered to be untouchable in the caste system) was to take her as his second wife.

Following this, the woman and her father approached the police and an FIR (number 404) was filed on 2 July 2021, at Gulawathi police station in Bulandshahr. The FIR mentioned that Intaak had made sexual relations with the victim on the false promise of marriage and had taken money from her on several occasions.

It also mentioned that Intaak had introduced himself as Aman Sharma in the beginning.

The woman's statement before the magistrate under section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) was recorded on 6 July.

Based on the complaint, the police arrested Intaak and booked him for rape, along with relevant sections of Uttar Pradesh’s new Anti-Forced Conversion Act and Scheduled Castes Prevention of Atrocity Act.

Intaak had married a few days before his arrest.

The woman told Swarajya that she did not suspect Intaak in the beginning. He used to wear a kalawa on his wrist, which added to his 'credibility'. Blinded by love, she did not read much into many of Intaak's habits that should have been a cause for worry under normal circumstances. For instance, Intaak never picked up calls on his mobile phone in her presence, nor did he allow her to look at his mobile screen.

The woman said she would not have gone ahead with the relationship had she known the real identity of Intaak. She added that Intaak must face the consequences for "ruining her life". She said that Intaak had exploited her all along and that she is ashamed of fleecing her poor daily wager father at Intaak's behest.

‘Love jihad’ — whatever you call it, preying of non-Muslim women is real

The issue of ‘love jihad’ has assumed greater and greater attention over the years, and western Uttar Pradesh has been a hub of such cases, in which Muslim men hide their religion and pose as Hindus to lure Hindu women into romantic and eventually sexual relationships. Often, as part of this act, the men get official documents like Aadhaar cards made in Hindu names.

However, soon they are forced to convert to Islam, live under Muslim personal laws and make do with the presence of co-wives.

Then these victims of ‘love jihad’ run from pillar to post calling for help, but their lives are already in shambles. Unfortunately and inexplicably, despite substantial documentary evidence, the existence of what is termed ‘love jihad’ has always been denied in many circles. It is instead called a conspiracy theory invented by the “Islamophobes” and "sanghis".