A couple was arrested in Karnataka’s Belagavi after a 28-year-old married woman alleged that they were forcing her to convert to Islam by threatening to circulate her private photographs, the police said on Monday (April 22). The woman also alleged that she was raped by the man, identified as Rafik, in front of his wife on numerous occasions when she stayed with them at a rented accommodation since 2021, the police added. Earlier this month, the couple forced her to wear burqa in place of ‘kumkum’ and also forced her to offer namaaz five times a day, the woman alleged in her complaint, the police said.
Rafik also threatened to circulate her intimate pictures to her family members and others if she did not divorce her husband, convert to Islam and live with them, she said in the complaint.
What did the police say on the matter?
According to a senior police official, the victim woman got married in 2013 and has two children. She met Rafik in 2020 at her husband’s grocery store which he visited frequently and later befriended her.
“They also got involved in a physical relationship, which her husband got to know later. This led to a quarrel and she left her husband's house,” the police said.
She returned to her husband’s house after nearly two months on the condition that she would end her relationship with Rafik, however, when she conveyed it to him, he started threatening her with her private pictures, he said.
Woman leaves husband again
The woman continued to stay in touch with Rafik but when her husband got to know about it, they had a quarrel and she left her husband's house and began staying with the accused and his wife, the officer added.
According to the police, the woman has been living with the accused couple since 2021. She alleged that the accused raped her multiple times in front of his wife.
"Based on her complaint, we have registered a case under relevant sections 376 (Rape), 503 (Criminal Intimidation) of Indian Penal Code, Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Act, IT Act, SC and ST Act and other sections against seven people," the police said.
Belagavi Superintendent of Police Bhimashankar Guleda said a case was registered and Rafik and his wife have been arrested in connection with the incident.
(With PTI inputs)
ALSO READ | Maharashtra: Man strangles boy to death for resisting unnatural sex, arrested with brother
