Couple arrested for alleged coercion and attempted religious conversion

A couple was arrested after a 28-year-old married woman accused them of forcing her to convert to Islam by threatening to distribute her private photos, police said Monday.

The victim also alleged that she was raped several times by man Rafik in front of his wife when she was staying with them in a rental house since 2021, police said.

According to police, the woman also alleged in her complaint that the couple forced her to wear a burqa instead of ‘kumkum’ this month and also forced her to perform namaaz five times a day. Rafik also threatened to distribute her intimate photos to her relatives and others if she did not divorce her husband, convert to Islam and live with them, she said in the complaint.

The victim married in 2013 and has two children. In 2020, she met Rafik at her husband’s supermarket, which he visited regularly, and later befriended her. They also became involved in a physical relationship, which her husband later met. This led to an argument and she left her husband’s house, a senior police officer said.

After a break of about two months, she returned to her husband’s house on the condition that she end her relationship with Rafik, but when she told him, he started threatening her with her private photos, he said.

The woman continued to keep in touch with Rafik, but when her husband heard about this, they had an argument and she left her husband’s house and went to stay with the suspect and his wife, the officer added.

The victim has been staying with the couple since 2021 and she alleged that the suspect raped her several times in front of his wife, the officer said.

”Based on her complaint, we have registered a case under relevant sections 376 (Rape), 503 (Criminal Intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code, Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Act, IT Act, SC and ST Act and other sections against seven people,” he said.

Belagavi Superintendent of Police Bhimashankar Guleda said a case has been registered and Rafik and his wife have been arrested in connection with the incident.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)