Assam man booked for raping MP girl in Bengaluru; minister cries love jihad

A woman from Damoh in Madhya Pradesh has alleged that a Muslim man in Bengaluru sexually exploited her, after which the police registered a case, while the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party taunted the Congress that is in power in Karnataka.

The woman has lodged a complaint in Damoh on Thursday evening against one Omar Farooq and a police team from Damoh is leaving for Karnataka immediately to probe the case, MP home minister Narottam Mishra told reporters in Bhopal.

Targeting the Congress, he said, "Priyanka Gandhi Vadra says I am a girl and I know how to fight (a reference to the party's slogan during the Uttar Pradesh polls). We want her to help the MP police nab Farooq so that the victim gets justice."

"We are going to crush this "love jihad" mentality," Mishra, who is also the MP government spokesperson, said on Friday.

Love jihad is a term used by right-wing activists alleging a conspiracy by Muslim men to lure Hindu women to convert to Islam through marriage.

Damoh superintendent of police Rakesh Kumar Singh said the woman, in her late 20s, had got a job in a private firm in Bengaluru and became friends with a 32-year-old man who introduced himself as Rajeev.

The victim later found his real name was Omar Farooq and that he was a resident of Assam, the SP said.

The woman has alleged that he sexually exploited her and also threatened and physically tormented her when she started distancing herself from him, the official said.

The accused established physical relations with the woman on the promise of marriage and then threatened to circulate their photographs and videos, which he had shot clandestinely, the SP said quoting the complaint.

"We have registered a case against the accused under sections of Indian Penal Code and the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act. A probe is underway," the SP said.