A case has been filed against seven Islamic radical in Karnataka, including culprit Rafik and his wife, for allegedly sexually assulting a 28-year-old Hindu married woman and forced her to convert to Islam.
The woman, who was married and Hindu, claimed that the man raped her in front of his wife and forced her to wear a burkha, forbidding her from wearing ‘kumkum‘ on her forehead, as per the police statement.
The police said that the suspects, Rafik and his wife, deceived the woman and had sexual relations with her. Rafik then took intimate photos of her, which he used to blackmail her into converting from Hinduism to Islam.
In her complaint, the 28-year-old woman claimed that Rafik told her to divorce her husband and threatened to expose intimate photos of her if she refused his demands. She also mentioned that the couple threatened to harm her if she didn’t convert.
The woman further alleged that she faced caste-based insults and was pressured by the accused to convert to another religion because she belonged to a backward caste, as per India Today report.
Discussing the case, the police said that since 2023, Rafik and his wife had coerced the woman to move into their home in Belagavi, and demanded her to follow their orders. The woman claimed that Rafik raped her last year while his wife was present, when all three of them were living together
According to Belagavi SP Bhimashankar Guleda, in April this year, the couple told the woman not to wear ‘kumkum‘, made her wear a burkha, and compelled her to perform namaz five times a day.
Based on the woman’s complaints, an FIR was filed in Saundatti against seven individuals. They are charged under various laws, including the Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Act, relevant sections of the IT law, the SC/ST Act, and the Indian Penal Code. These charges include rape, kidnapping, wrongful confinement, and criminal intimidation.