A team of Karnataka police officials arrested a man in Srinagar, who was accused of attempting to convert a woman from another faith and allegedly engaging in unnatural sexual acts.
Reports said Mozif Ashraf Beigh from the Zakura area of Srinagar was arrested by a team of officials from Hebbagodi Police Station and was transferred to Bengaluru to face charges outlined in an FIR registered on September 7.
These charges include Sections 376 (rape), 377 (unnatural offenses), 506 (criminal intimidation), 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), and 417 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), along with Section 5 of the Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Act, 2022.
The woman, who initially met Beigh in 2018 while working together at an IT firm in Bengaluru, claims she entered into a relationship with him based on his promise of marriage without religious obligations.
The 38-year-old woman, a resident of Bengaluru, had claimed to be a victim of “love jihad,” rape, and unnatural sex through a post on X (formerly Twitter).
The post on September 6 read, “@PoliceBangalore @DGPKarnataka @PMOIndia @CPBlr Sir, I am a victim of love jihad, rape, unnatural sex, and forceful religious conversion. Kindly provide me with police assistance in Bangalore immediately, as my life is in danger (sic).”
An FIR was filed at Bellandur Police Station on September 7. The case was subsequently transferred to Hebbagodi Police Station, as it fell under their jurisdiction.
The woman also alleged that Beigh’s brother threatened her to distance herself from him. Beigh has been reportedly presented before a local court in Bengaluru and has been remanded in police custody for two days.
Published 22 September 2023, 22:26 IST