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Religious conversion case: Earlier marriage of KGMU doctor puts Pilibhit cleric under scanner
Senior police officials said the role of Qazi Zahid of Neoria in Pilibhit district came into focus after investigators unearthed details of Rameez’s first marriage with a woman doctor from Agra in February 2025, following her alleged religious conversion. Officials said the accused had not disclosed this marriage to King George’s Medical University (KGMU).
The disclosure of an earlier marriage of KGMU senior resident doctor Rameezuddin Nayak alias Rameez Malik, allegedly solemnised after an unlawful religious conversion, has brought an elusive cleric from Pilibhit under the scanner of the Special Task Force (STF), which is probing the case as a suspected organised conversion racket.
Senior police officials said the role of Qazi Zahid of Neoria in Pilibhit district came into focus after investigators unearthed details of Rameez’s first marriage with a woman doctor from Agra in February 2025, following her alleged religious conversion. Officials said the accused had not disclosed this marriage to King George’s Medical University (KGMU).
The STF has collected all documents and evidence related to the case from the Lucknow police and has intensified the investigation.
Officials said STF teams are examining nikahs previously performed by Qazi Zahid to ascertain whether a pattern of religious conversion followed by marriage exists. Investigators are also scrutinising the alleged use of forged or fabricated documents to facilitate such conversions and marriages.
According to police sources, Qazi Zahid frequently moved across several districts of western Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, including Pilibhit, Saharanpur, Agra, Deoband, Bijnor and Meerut. STF teams are coordinating with local police units, mosque committees and clerics in these areas to trace his movements, hideouts and network of associates.
The woman doctor, who later married Rameez, had initially accused him, his parents, the cleric and another individual of assault and harassment after she opposed the religious conversion, though she later retracted her allegations. However, her initial statement proved crucial in exposing the alleged conversion network, officials said.
Investigators have also launched a parallel probe into the alleged forgery of documents used for the woman’s conversion and marriage. Preliminary findings suggest multiple documents were prepared to legitimise both the conversion and the nikah. The Chowk police station in Lucknow has written to the Pilibhit district administration seeking records related to the marriage registration.
Lucknow deputy commissioner of police (west) Vishwajeet Srivastava said two special teams have been deployed to trace the elusive cleric and his associate. “Raids are being conducted at multiple locations. Once arrested, the cleric will be questioned thoroughly as it could lead to vital information about the larger network,” he said.
Officials believe that Qazi Zahid’s arrest could significantly strengthen the case and help establish whether the KGMU-linked episode was part of a wider, organised unlawful religious conversion racket operating across districts and states.
Earlier, on January 9, KGMU recommended to the Directorate General of Medical Education (DGME) the expulsion of Rameez after the university’s Vishakha Committee found him guilty of allegedly sexually exploiting a woman colleague on the pretext of marriage and forcing her to undergo religious conversion. He was later arrested by Chowk police the same night and sent to jail.
Rameez’s father Salimuddin, 70, and latter’s second wife Khateeja, 67, were arrested on January 5 for their alleged role in unlawful religious conversion and the miscarriage of two women medical students -- one at KGMU and another at Agra Medical College.
Rameez, a resident doctor pursuing an MD in pathology at KGMU, has been accused of entering into a physical relationship with his colleague on the false promise of marriage and later forcing her to terminate her pregnancy. The victim has also alleged that he pressured her to convert to Islam for marriage despite already being married.
The case came to light after the woman resident doctor allegedly attempted suicide on December 17, 2025, by consuming an overdose of medication. She was admitted to the KGMU Trauma Centre in critical condition and discharged on December 19. Her father subsequently lodged complaints on the Chief Minister’s portal and before the State Women’s Commission. An FIR was registered at the Chowk police station under Section 69 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (sexual intercourse by deceit, including false promise of marriage), Section 89 (causing miscarriage without a woman’s consent), Section 351(1) (criminal intimidation), and Sections 3 and 5(1) of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Act, 2021.
