4 booked for raping minor after failed conversion bid: Police

Ujjain’s additional superintendent of police Amrendra Singh said the incident occurred in Malegaon, Maharashtra, where the girl had gone to work as a labourer.

Updated on: Jun 10, 2021, 24:05:54 IST

By Shruti Tomar, Hindustan Times, Bhopal

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Four men allegedly gang-raped a 15-year-old girl after she refused to convert to Islam to marry one of them, police said. All have been booked under various sections of Pocso (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act and Indian Penal Code and MP Freedom of Religion Act, and the main perpetrator has been arrested, they added.

Ujjain’s additional superintendent of police Amrendra Singh said the incident occurred in Malegaon, Maharashtra, where the girl had gone to work as a labourer. “In Malegaon, she met Majid Khan, 23, who introduced himself as Mohit. Khan raped the girl on the pretext of marriage and later tried to get her to change her religion last October. The girl refused to do so, and Majid and three of friends gang-raped her ,” Singh added.

The girl came to live with her sister in Ujjain and the family didn’t go to the police. But in April this year, she complained of stomach pain and had to be admitted to a hospital. It was found that she was pregnant. “She had a premature delivery in the hospital, but the baby died. It was then that the girl shared her ordeal with another woman in the hospital, who then informed a Hindu organisation and the police about it,” ASP Singh said.

The state police sought the cooperation of the Maharashtra Police. With the help of the girl, Khan was called to Ujjain last week and arrested and handed over to the Malegaon police.

On Tuesday, a joint team of Malegaon and Ujjain police exhumed the body of the infant for a DNA test.

Ujjain superintendent of police Satendra Shukla said, “We are also taking legal opinion about registering a case in the girl’s home district of Barwani in Madhya Pradesh as the MP Freedom of Religion Act will not be applicable in Maharashtra.”

MP Freedom of Religion Act is a controversial new law passed by the state in March this year that penalises forced conversions with jail terms of up to 10 years and a minimum fine of ₹50,000.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shruti Tomar
I have spent over a decade chronicling Madhya Pradesh’s political and social landscape, covering politics, investigative journalism, crime, human interest, and government policy, blending sharp insight with ground‑level depth. I have closely tracked three assembly elections, three Lok Sabha elections, leadership transitions in MP while exposing governance lapses, tender irregularities, and flawed policy rollouts. My reports have revealed gaps in the Cheetah project, irregularities in medical education, rigging in recruitment exams, and loopholes in policy implementation. In crime reporting, I have moved beyond FIRs to map systemic patterns — from organised crime networks and gender‑based violence to custodial accountability — balancing urgency with sensitivity. My journalism is defined by a commitment to human interest. I have profiled the marginalised Bancchda community, documented atrocities against tribal groups, and highlighted efforts to preserve their culture through heritage liquor and revival of spiritual practices. I have reported on farmers struggling with failed MSP promises, giving voice to those often reduced to statistics in policy files. Passionate about field reporting, I have reported on rampant sand mining in Chambal and Narmada, pharmaceutical companies supplying medicines under altered names, the dire condition of schools and colleges, the plight of commercial sex workers, and skewed sex ratios in specific districts. Beyond deadlines, and as HT’s state correspondent and assistant editor in Madhya Pradesh, I engage with ministers, farmers, students, and activists, believing the best policy stories begin with a single human voice. A postgraduate in Journalism and Mass Communication, I also hold a diploma in sports journalism.Read More

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