Madhya Pradesh: 16-Yr-Old Girl Lodges Complaint Against Man For Rape, BJP Says 'Love Jihad'

According to police, the survivor met the accused in 2018, and he took her to a secluded house on the pretext of introducing her to his family, and raped her.

Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, including its state president, have termed rape of a 16-year-old girl by a 40-year-old Muslim man in Madhya Pradesh's Satna district as a case of "love jihad".

Police arrested the accused, Mohammad Ateeq Mansuri alias Sikander Khan alias Sameer Singh, within four hours of the survivor registering a complaint on September 11. She alleged that the man raped her on the pretext of marriage over the past two years.

State BJP president V D Sharma termed the incident "inhuman" and a "blot on humanity". "This matter of love jihad will not be tolerated in Madhya Pradesh and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has taken serious note of it. The government will look into the network of this love jihad and work seriously on it," he said.

According to police, the survivor met the accused in 2018, and he took her to a secluded house on the pretext of introducing her to his family and raped her. After the girl protested, he promised to marry her.

The accused allegedly threatened to kill her family if she told anybody about the incident. The girl learnt in/ June 2020 that the man is married and has children. She then registered a complaint, The Indian Express reported.

SP Iqbal Riyaz constituted an SIT after reports emerged that the man has committed such crimes with other women. He is now set to be booked under the National Security Act (NSA).

Four more cases have now been registered against Mansuri. He was booked for possessing fake letterheads of political leaders which he used to send requests for ticket confirmation under emergency quota, as well as for having identity documents in two different names.

Police have found that the farmhouse where he raped the complainant was constructed illegally, and has ordered its demolition.

The SIT is now talking to at least three women who have been harassed by Mansuria but did not lodge a formal complaint.

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