Woman in Guna raped by Muslim man and forced to convert to religion; threatened with leaked photos

Guna (Madhya Pradesh): A 20-year-old woman was raped in Guna by an online friend who blackmailed her by publishing photos and harassed her for a year and a half.

The woman, originally from Bamori, said she moved to Guna about two and a half years ago due to her family’s poor financial condition. Her father is mentally ill, her mother is a housewife and her younger brother is still studying. She started working in a private company in Guna and sent her salary home to support her family.

In 2022, she met a man on Instagram who introduced himself as Bhaiyyu. They started talking on the phone and eventually met in person as he also lived in Guna. They took several photos together and he learned that she lived alone in a rented room. One day, he showed up at her home, threatened to kill her family and raped her while filming the act. He then used the photos and videos to blackmail her and force her into further sexual abuse and physical violence.

The accused, who befriended her on social media under the name ‘Bhaiyyu’, pressured her to change her religion and physically abused her. The victim had to change her residence three times due to his relentless harassment.

The woman learned the truth about Bhaiyyu when she found several Muslim contacts on his phone. He then revealed that his real name was Arshad. After that, he increased the pressure on her to convert to his religion and follow his cultural dress code by requiring her to wear traditional suits and a burka instead of jeans. He also forced her to leave work to meet with him whenever he wanted and frequently showed up at her rented room, which led to her landlords evicting her from her room several times.

Arshad’s abuse and torture continued for 18 months, during which he even attacked her in public. A shopkeeper once asked her why she tolerated the abuse, but she endured it out of fear for her family and social stigma. The constant harassment left visible marks of abuse on her face and body and no smile on her face for a year and a half.

Eventually, someone informed her through the Hindu Jagran Manch. She contacted the district coordinator, advocate Dilip Kumar Rajak, who encouraged her to take action. She then filed a complaint against Arshad. Kotwali police station in-charge Anup Bhargava confirmed that an FIR was filed against the accused based on the woman’s complaint.

Published on: Sunday, 23 June 2024, 16:33 IST