RANCHI: A 25-year-old Hindu girl on Thursday lodged an FIR against husband Waqar Danish Anwar claiming that he was torturing her for the last one year to convert to Islam, two months after her marriage was solemnized at a Ranchi temple in October 2013. The girl also accused Anwar of forcing her to accept nikah.
A hotel management graduate, Jaya Bhandari, who went to Ranchi’s Women’s Police station on Thursday, claimed in the FIR that Danish had married her on the promise that his is a secular-minded family who would never force her to convert to Islam and that she would be free to pursue Hinduism after marriage.
“Initially after marriage he tried to convince me to convert to Islam. But when I did not agree, he brought several maulvis in December 2013 (two months after marriage) at home and organized nikah and forced me to accept it. He subsequently changed my name to Zoya Anwar. He beat me up when I strongly objected to conversion,” the girl said adding that she was threatened with dire consequences if she opens her mouth.
The couple had a love marriage solemnized on October 16, 2013 at a Hindu temple, after a few months of courtship when the two were working at a five-star hotel in the city. Interestingly the girl hails from Kishorganj locality in Ranchi where national-shooter Tara Shahdeo, a victim of love-jihad, also lives. The accused lives in Maulana Azad Colony, Namkum in city.
The girl belongs to a reputed Ranchi-based business family. The parents of the girl died a few years ago and there is no one in her family, apart from two uncles and grand-father. “The girl did not dare approach the police because she has no one in the family. After she married a Muslim boy, her uncles were also not in touch with her,” said Bishwajeet Mukherjee, victim’s lawyer.
Jharkhand BJP women wing’s chief Usha Pandey, who helped the girl approach the cops, said, “It is a clear case of love-jihad. The boy had married the girl under the promise of respecting her religion. But, he started the torture soon after marriage. The accused should be brought to book.”
City SP Anoop Birthary said: “The girl has claimed that she was being tortured to accept Islam for which a case has been lodged. An investigation has already started in the case.”
This is the second marriage of Jaya Bhandari who had a divorce with her first husband in 2009, two years after she had an arranged marriage. She also has a seven-year-old daughter
Times of India
