Tensions are high in Rajasthan’s Beawar District after ten youth were arrested for allegedly molesting minor girls in the area. The incident has flared the Hindus in the area as out of the ten arrested youth, nine are Muslims.
The incident came to light last week when a China-based mobile phone was found in one of the girls’ houses by her parents. On further interrogation, the girls named local boys whom they had been speaking to and met a few times over coffee. The situation escalated when the Hindutva groups in the area alleged that the men blackmailed the girls and were forcing them to convert to Islam, giving it a love jihad spin.
Speaking to Maktoob, Rehmat, who is the lawyer representing the youth, said, “This was nothing, just young boys and girls trying to get to know each other. However, the local Hindu groups are giving it a love jihad angle, which it is not.”
The boys, aged between 18-19, had allegedly tried to befriend the girls, who were minors and studying in class 10 and beyond.
“One guy named Rohit was speaking to one of the girls when the accused asked him to introduce them to girls as well,” Rehmat added.
The accused have been identified as Rihan Mohammad (20), Sohail Mansuri (19), Shoaib (20), Arman Pathan (19), and Sahil Qureshi (19), who are all from Vijaynagar and nearby areas. Three minors have also been detained by the local police.
When the boys and girls started talking, they met once at a café where they had coffee.
However, things escalated when one of the boys gave the girl a Chinese cell phone to talk to them.
“Almost all the boys and girls lived nearby, except that girl, which is why they had given her a phone,” according to Rehmat.
While most of the girls belong to the Scheduled Caste community, the girl in whose house the phone was found is a Brahmin.
According to local sources, she is the niece of a local Bharatiya Janata Party councillor, who, after getting to know about the incident, went to the police station demanding the police take action.
Meanwhile, the girls, in their interviews to media channels and in their complaints, have alleged that the men had forced them to wear burqas and read kalma to convert them to Islam.
Family members of the girls complained to the police and claimed that they shared details that “a gang was behind this heinous racket.”
The tensions have reached a level where the area saw a bandh (shutdown) due to the pressure from the Hindutva groups who are demanding the police take stringent actions.
Meanwhile, the local bar council has taken out a statement that no lawyer should represent the accused.
For Rehmat, the situation is difficult as he is the only lawyer who has taken up the case and is not getting any kind of help.
In a video that has since gone viral, local lawyers are seen beating the accused and the police accompanying them.
“The police are not picking up my calls. I have not even received the FIR in the matter. They have filed three FIRs, and all the cases are being represented in different courts. The local bar council has forbidden any lawyer to take the case, and even I am being pressured,” he added.
The men belong to poor families where they work as painters and perform other daily wage jobs.
A case has been registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO).
Maktoob spoke to SHO Sakat Nagar Karan Singh, who said that they had nabbed the men within 12 hours of filing the complaint.
“One of the boys is Jaat while the others are Muslim. Ten boys have been arrested, out of which three are minors,” he said.
On asking about the on-ground situation, he said that it is tense; however, people have started opening up shops from the evening. On asking whether there is a love jihad spin to the story, Singh tried to avert the question. “I cannot comment on the love jihad matter. But people are upset on the ground, is all I can say. We are looking into the matter right now,” he said.
“Love jihad” is an unproven conspiracy theory used by Hindu nationalists and Hindu far-right groups to accuse Muslim men of converting Hindu women by marriage.
Meanwhile, the local authorities have sent a notice to the families of the accused averring that their houses will be demolished in the coming days.
To this, SHO Singh said that “all the guidelines by the Supreme Court will be followed in the matter. The recent judgement by the Supreme Court clearly states what is to be done,” he added.
As of now, the situation is tense, and lawyers are waiting for the situation to calm down.
“We cannot do anything in this situation and can only wait. The police are tense, the lawyers have lost their sense of judgement, and we can only wait and see what happens,” he added.
