Married man accused of hiding identity to marry Hindu woman, arrested

A case has been registered in Gurugram under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Love Jihad Act, 2022, and anti-conversion laws against a man accused of concealing his identity to marry a Hindu woman and later forcing her to convert to Islam.

The accused, identified as Arif Khan alias Aarav, is alleged to be already married and the father of three children. An FIR has also been registered against six of his family members for allegedly pressuring the woman to convert and threatening her.

According to the complaint filed by a 24-year-old woman from Bihar, she was working in the insurance department of a motor company showroom in Gurugram in 2022 when she came in contact with Aarav through a colleague, Tarif Khan. The accused allegedly introduced himself as a Hindu, unmarried, and claimed that he had no family support.

The woman alleged that Arif Khan deceived her and her family, married her in a temple as per Hindu rituals, and began living with her.

She stated that in 2023, after she became pregnant, the accused pressured her to abort the child and threatened to make her obscene video viral. As the pregnancy was already six months old, the abortion did not take place. The accused allegedly admitted her to a private hospital in Gurugram for delivery and fled. She gave birth to a male child on August 11, 2023.

“A few months later, Tarif Khan told me that Aarav’s real name is Arif Khan and that he is married and father of three children. When I questioned him, he took me to his house in Dhunela village near Sohna, where his mother, wife and brothers renamed me Ziya Khan and started pressuring me to convert my religion. I was beaten and threatened with death for my child, but somehow I managed to escape to Bihar,” the woman stated in her complaint.

She further alleged that after returning alone to Gurugram, leaving her child with her parents in Bihar, the accused and his family forcibly entered her rented house late on January 26, assaulted her, and again pressured her to convert, threatening to kill her. She later approached the police with the help of social workers.

Based on the complaint, an FIR has been registered at Sector 14 police station against Arif Khan alias Aarav, his mother Jaituni, wife Arshida, brothers Irfan, Noman and Momen, and friend Tarif Khan.

The police have arrested two accused Arif Khan alias Aarav (35) and his friend Tarif Khan (34), residents of village Dhunela.

“During interrogation, it was revealed that the accused Tarif used to work as a driver for Arif Khan earlier and in the year 2022, the accused Arif used to do transport business. We are questioning the accused”, said the spokesperson of Gurugram police.