PRAYAGRAJ: The police in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj have filed charges against three brothers for allegedly sexually harassing a woman and her daughter following their coerced conversion, officials reported on Tuesday.
The woman's father had purportedly been enticed into converting to Islam by the father of the accused men, one of whom was arrested on Tuesday evening.
According to the FIR, the victim, a proprietor of a sweet shop, was promised improved business prospects if he embraced the new faith. After the demise of both men, the three sons of Mushtaq Ali allegedly began pressuring the two women to undergo conversion, engaging in extortion, and subjecting them to sexual exploitation, as stated in the complaint lodged with the police.
The FIR, based on the woman's complaint of "forced" conversion of herself and her daughter, was registered at Colonelganj police station on Tuesday. She further alleged that the three accused individuals, identified as Akram, Junaid, and Faizan, sexually harassed them. The charges filed include sections under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) such as rioting (147), causing hurt (323), intentional insult (504), wrongful confinement (342), sexual harassment (354A), and provisions of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion Act.
As Ali had passed away, no case was registered against him, clarified the police. Assistant Commissioner of Police (Shivkuti) Rajesh Kumar Yadad informed that one of the accused, Akram, was arrested on Tuesday evening, while the remaining two are currently evading arrest. The conversion allegedly transpired within the past year, according to the woman, who claimed to have been attempting to file the FIR for an extended period without success.
(With agency inputs)
