Surat is about 270 kms away from Ahmedabad in Gujarat. Like Vadodara, it is one of those cosmopolitan places where a lot of non-Gujaratis have come to call it their home. Its proximity to Mumbai and it being textile and diamond hub has also brought in people from other states.

One such family that has made Surat their home for the past 15 years is Pooja (name changed). Her family lives in the industrial area of Sachin, on the outskirts of Surat. Back in 2015, when she was 17 years old, she would often accompany her sister to her workplace, in an apparel manufacturing factory. There she got acquainted with one Dilshad.

Pooja explains that she met Dilshad where she used to work with her sister and mother. He used to sit next to her while working and got acquainted. One day, during tea break, Dilshad took her phone and obtained her phone number. A few days later, two days before Shivratri, he called her. “I got a call from an unknown number and I answered and that is when he told me that his name was Dilshad,” she said.

Dilshad told Pooja, who was a minor at that time, that he loves her and wants to meet her. She turned down the advances saying that her father is home and she cannot meet him. She also told him that she does not like him and hence nothing will happen between them. She said that despite that he would continue to call her. When she blocked the number, he would call from other numbers.

One day, he asked her to meet him. “If you meet me once, I will not call or message you again,” he told her. That day she was on a leave and she went to meet him near her place. “That is where they took me,” she said.

Pooja was kidnapped and taken to a village in Katihar, Bihar

After having turned down his advances several times, Pooja finally decided to go meet him to tell him that she does not have feelings for him the way he had for her. However, a shock was in store for her when she went to meet him.

Pooja then revealed that there were 2-3 people who took her away. She was first taken to a place called Sainath near Sachin where she was kept for a few days. Later, her parents and sister got suspicious and tried to get in touch with Dilshad but he never let her speak to her family. From Sainath, she was taken to Mumbai.

In Mumbai, there was one of his family members and his friend where they kept her for one day. From Mumbai, she was taken to Bihar.

“I cried, but they still took me,” she says.

“I want to marry you”

Dilshad then took her to Bihar where he said he wanted to marry her. Pooja said how her family members raised concerns that the girl he has brought to marry is not ready to marry. But then he gave money to get the marriage registered. She then said that he called a maulana for the nikah.

“My family members would keep calling him but he kept threatening me. One of his relatives worked in the same company where I worked. He would tell me that if I do anything, he will harm my family. Out of fear, I had to marry him. Those who came for the nikah also knew the marriage was not consensual. Even the person who facilitated court marriage knew this. But they all took money for the marriage,” she said.

Pooja then reveals that after the ‘nikah’, her name was changed there. Her hair was cut and she was asked to wear a burqa and she was not allowed to go out. “I thought that if I stay properly and follow what they ask me to do, they may let me speak to my family. He used to also beat me up,” she said.

She says how Dilshad’s mother would come in the night when she would be sleeping and spread something where she would sleep. She stayed at Dilshad’s place for 15-20 days. She further revealed that she heard Dilshad speak to the maulvi who had come for nikah that they get money for bringing Hindu girl for marriage. “He was marrying me for this money only,” she said.

Dilshad’s mother used to make her read the namaz and force her to wear a burqa.

The return

Pooja pleaded to Dilshad to let her speak to her parents because she was so well behaved. One day, he let her speak to her father where he informed her that her mother is seriously ill. “My father didn’t know where I was,” she said. Pooja then requested Dilshad to let her go and see her mother once. But Dilshad refused. He even threatened her with death threats to her father should he come to the village to rescue her with police.

Pooja revealed that her brother then reached out to someone about how his sister was abducted and taken away. She then got in touch with one Girish Ahir in Sachin, who is the secretary of Hindu Jagran Manch of Surat Mahanagar. Meanwhile, one day when Dilshad was away, she managed to get access to the phone and she called up her father and informed her about her whereabouts.

Somehow Dilshad got to know that her father was on his way to Katihar and so he beat her up. She then called up her father and asked her father to not go there with her father. That is when he told her that he is only going because her mother is ill. Even then Dilshad refused to let her go and gave her death threats.

“I then tried to convince them that I will return. I stayed there nicely so that they have faith that I will return. I had to do it and stayed for a few days,” She said. When her father came to ‘meet’ her, Dilshad first sent some people to check on him if he is alone or has police with him and only then he was allowed to meet her.

“My father cried a lot on seeing me,” she said. Pooja then asked for a copy of the ‘marriage certificate’ to take it along with her but neither Dilshad nor his mother allowed it. She said that while leaving she still managed to take a copy of the certificate. Her father finally managed to bring her home.

Back home, Pooja was taken to temple

Pooja then said that when she saw her mother so unwell and in ICU, she did not feel good. “My family members told me that when I would be sleeping, I would keep reciting the namaz. I did not know that,” she said. She said that one day she was feeling low. She did not want to stay back. Her father told her to stay back but she was not feeling right as everyone in the neighbourhood knew of her ordeal and she had to face a lot of societal pressure.

“I did not like hearing the comments of everyone about how I was taken away and what happened to me,” she said, pushing back her tears. Pooja then decided to go back to Katihar with Dilshad and left the house.

Her sister then again reached out to Girish Ahir, who had earlier helped her family to bring Pooja back. Girish Ahir and his team managed to spot Pooja on a train at Sachin station and got her off the train. Later, she was taken to meet one Deepika Bhavsar, who works extensively with women like Pooja, to counsel them, make them feel safe. Pooja said that Bhavsar got her to read about Hindu texts and regular prayers and that helped her feel better.

Fighting back her tears, Pooja says that had it not been for the ones who rescued her, she would not have been able to walk so confidently. “Had it not been for these people, I would have not been alive,” she said. She said that they helped her file cases and take the legal route. Pooja reveals that when she would offer namaz, she was taken to a temple. There a Pandit told her that when she was taken to Dargah, they had allegedly done some black magic because of which she has started reciting namaz.

Speaking to Media, Girish Ahir said that Pooja’s case has been one of the most successful cases. While a police complaint was filed and police did try to catch the culprit, but nothing quite came out of it. It has been over 6 years now and the girl has also become an adult and the family is looking to get her married.

Ahir spoke about another case from 2016 of one girl Sheetal (name changed) who was a student in class nine. A Muslim man had eloped with her. Subsequently, an FIR was registered and he was given life imprisonment. The girl has since been married to a Hindu boy as per Hindu rituals.

The first case of ‘Love Jihad’ in Gujarat was in Surat

The first case of ‘love jihad’ under the new anti-conversion law in Gujarat was filed in Surat’s Dindoli area. A 50-year-old Muslim man was accused of luring and impregnating a young Hindu girl using a false identity. He was also accused of trying to convert her to Islam. In 2018, 50-year-old accused Mohammad Akhtar Sheikh met a 22-year-old Hindu girl and introduced himself as Mukesh Mahavir Gupta. He slowly developed a friendship with the girl and claimed he was employed by the Indian Railways.

He had claimed he was unmarried and a year later in 2019 proposed marriage to the girl. The two got married as per Hindu rituals. The marriage was solemnized at the Hanuman temple, which is located in the Kadodara area of Surat. The accused soon impregnated the girl and the duo had a son together. He also began staying at her house. He also took Rs 12 lakh from the girl’s family members under the pretext of getting her a job.

However, it was only in 2021 she discovered the truth about him. She found his Aadhaar card and discovered that he was not Mukesh Mahavir Gupta but Mohammad Akhtar Sheikh. Not only that, he was already married and also had five children with his first wife.

The woman then alleged that upon discovery of his true identity, Sheikh forced her to read namaz and also tried to force her to convert to Islam.

Constitution vs Muslim Personal Law

Kavita Dubey, a social activist, while speaking to media said that one of the major issues with such grooming jihad cases is the legal loopholes. In a lot of cases, the culprits get the girls’ confidence by telling them that they will get married under the Special Marriage Act and hence the girl will not need to change her religion. But soon after, they get her converted and have a nikah as per Islamic rituals.

Once the girl converts, the Muslim Personal Law Board is applicable, and if she then is abandoned or the man gets another wife, she has very little legal recourse, Dubey said.

“It is the responsibility of parents to make sure the girls don’t fall into such traps. If the girl does not get love, comfort, and warmth at home, she tends to fall on such wrong paths, and then it gets difficult to bring these girls back,” she said. “In 90% cases, if a Hindu girl has eloped with a Muslim boy, she will not return despite the realization of mistake because of society. So society also needs to be more accepting of girls who come back. They need counseling, not our taunts,” she said.

However, what is unfortunate here is that in a major chunk of cases, victims are Hindu Dalit girls and other girls from lower-income brackets who are easily lured.

To be continued...

References:

opindia.com - Nirwa Mehta