Man held for raping teen; Madhya Pradesh BJP calls case 'love jihad'

A man has been arrested in Satna in Madhya Pradesh for allegedly raping a 16-year-old girl over the past two years, the crime taking political overtones with the state BJP calling it a "love jihad" case.

Mohammad Atiq Mansuri, in his 40s, has been in custody since Saturday, Kolgawan police station inspector Mohit Saxena said.

"The accused befriended the girl, a student of Class XI, at his gymnasium. She told police on Friday he was raping her since 2018. He was arrested within a few hours under relevant IPC and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act sections," Saxena said on Sunday.

Satna Superintendent of Police Riyaz Iqbal said a SIT had been formed under City SP Vijay Singh Parihar to probe the case.

An SIT member said it was not true that the accused, a divorcee, befriended the girl by introducing himself as 'Sameer Singh' on Facebook.

A statement from Satna police said complaints of Mansuri blackmailing women and amassing property fraudulently have come in and they will be probed by the SIT.

He is a history-sheeter with three cases in Kotwali police station, and SP Iqbal had sent a proposal to the Satna district collector seeking scrapping of his firearm licence and well as invoking the National Security Act, police said.

In a statement, MP BJP chief VD Sharma said "Satna's love jihad case will not be tolerated", adding that Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had taken serious note of it.