Surat: A 28-year-old man arrested for abducting and raping a minor girl in February this year was denied bail by a local court here even as the prosecution invoked ‘love jihad’ to oppose his release as he and the survivor belong to different faiths.
The court special Pocso court rejected the bail application of accused Nadeem, who was arrested by the Amroli police for allegedly luring the 16-year-old girl by offering to marry her. He, however, reneged on his promise after indulging in sexual intercourse with the girl at different places.
Additional public prosecutor KV Revaliya argued that it was a case of ‘love jihad’ as the accused and victim belong to different religions.
“The victim was minor at the time of incident. Accused has committed a serious offence of kidnapping and rape. It appears from the police papers that he had a role in inducement of marriage and taking away the victim and committing sexual intercourse. The girl was rescued from his custody. She is a Hindu and the accused a Muslim and this is a case of love jihad,” Revaliya argued.
A FIR was lodged on February 2, 2020 in Amroli Police station by the girl’s father under various sections of IPC including 376 (2), 366 and sections of Protection of Children from Sexual offences Act, 2012 against unknown persons. In the FIR, her father stated that on January 31, 2020, his minor daughter did not return from her work place.
Investigation revealed Nadim’s name and that had taken the girl at various places with an inducement of marriage.
Nadim was later arrested and sent to judicial custody. Earlier, the court had rejected his regular bail plea and a chargesheet was filed against him.
Appearing for the Nadim, lawyer Sanjay Vaniya argued that he was falsely implicated in the case and the matter had been amicably settled with the girl and her family.
He had even submitted an affidavit giving details about the settlement with the girl wherein her family stated that even they had no objection if he was released on bail.
“Nowadays, cases of kidnapping and abduction are on the high and young girls are being lured by young boys and are subjected to sexual abuse. As such, considering social aspects of the offence, I am of the opinion that the accused is actively involved in the alleged offence,” the court observed while rejecting the bail plea.