A Hindu woman has submitted a written complaint to the district collector in Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh district accusing a man named Riyaz of deception and forcing her into an illegal religious conversion. The woman is a resident of Tripura. In her statement the woman said, ‘About 4 years ago, Riyaz, belonging to Jammu and Kashmir, made her friend on social media pretending to be Gulshan Manhas, a Hindu’.
She further said, ‘A few months later, the accused married her in a temple according to the Hindu customs, but after she had a child with him, he started pressuring her to convert to Islam. He assaulted and threatened her with life when she refused to accept her demands’. The victim said, ‘In the year 2021, Riyaz called her to Andhra Pradesh promising marriage. A few days later the woman went to Andhra Pradesh without informing her family. In June 2021, the couple was married in a temple following Hindu customs in Vradapalam city, Andhra Pradesh. Following their marriage, they settled into a rented house in the same city.
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The woman recalled how Riyaz would avoid her questions about his family and instead say, ‘I am a good person, I didn’t deceive you’. Notably, on December 7, 2022, the victim gave birth to a son in a private hospital, whom she named Gurdeep. Four months later, the accused took the woman to Jammu and Kashmir claiming he was taking her to his home. He mentioned that the village he lived in was called Kandi.
The woman further said in her application that after Gulshan took her to his house, she noticed that the environment of his house was completely different from hers. One day, Gulshan slaughtered a chicken at home, clearing her doubts that he was not a Hindu. She remained calm and decided to seek further clarity.
The woman started asking around about him one day when Gulshan was not at home. She noticed that when she inquired in Muslim households, everyone would defend Gulshan. But when she spoke with people from Hindu families, she discovered that Gulshan’s real name was Riyaz Ahmed and that he was a Muslim.
The accused’s family and some members of the community started pressuring her to convert to Islam. Gulshan physically assaulted her, threatening to kill her when she refused but she remained steadfast in her decision. She attempted to escape with her child several times but was unsuccessful.
She filed a report at the Kandi police station but no action was taken. She managed to leave the house and made her way to Delhi and then to Rajasthan. However, the accused tracked her using her mobile location and found her, forcibly taking her back to his home. She and her child were confined indoors for approximately five months. She managed to find an opportunity to escape and made her way to Chhattisgarh. Upon arriving in the village of Bhikhampura in the Sarangarh district, she connected with a local NGO. Presently, she is residing there and teaching children through the organization.
She travelled on Monday from the village to the Raigarh Collectorate, where she filed a written complaint against Riyaz Ahmed aka Gulshan. She has also sought help at the SP office.
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