Nuh police rescue minor, arrest two in forced conversion case

In a sensational case from Nuh, police have arrested a cleric and a man for allegedly kidnapping and forcibly converting a 17-year-old Hindu girl. The accused confessed to forcing her into conversion and ‘nikah’.

The two arrested have been identified as cleric Raiees Uddin and Tariq, a resident of Bhadanpur village. Police also recovered a fake ‘nikahnama’ and other forged documents. Both were produced in court today and remanded in two days of police custody. Two more suspects are under interrogation.

DSP Abhimanyu Lohan of Tauru said Tariq had lured the Bihar native girl on the pretext of marriage and eloped with her from Tauru on August 20. “Her family searched for her for days and when she was not found, they lodged a complaint. An FIR was registered on September 26. The next day police arrested Tariq and rescued the girl,” Lohan said.

Police revealed that Tariq had earlier produced fake papers showing the girl as an adult. The ‘nikah’ was facilitated by cleric Raiees Uddin, with fictitious names listed as witnesses.

“During the interrogation of the accused, it was revealed that both the ‘nikah’ and ‘nikahnama’ are fake. Not only was the ‘nikah’ solemnised through religious conversion without the girl’s consent, but she was also forced into physical relations. The witnesses mentioned in the documents had nothing to do with this,” DSP Lohan added.

Officials said more disclosures are likely during police remand.