Kashmiri man held for forcing woman to convert & marry

Bhubaneswar : The police on Saturday arrested a 24-year-old man from Kashmir on the charge of blackmailing an Odisha woman and forcing her to marry him after converting her religion. He was arrested days after the woman lodged a police complaint against the man accusing him of concealing his full name and religious identity.

The youth, identified as Mohammad Samir Mansoori, a native of Bihar’s East Champaran district and working as an electrician in Kashmir, was detained on Friday. Bhubaneswar DCP Pinak Mishra said the woman from Jagatsinghpur district came in contact with him through an online gaming application in 2022 and they developed an affair.

“He won the trust of the woman and also visited Odisha to meet her. They had spent some time in Puri. He also forced her into a physical relationship,” the DCP said quoting the FIR. However, the woman started avoiding Samir after their meeting at Puri following which he threatened her to make video clips of their intimate moments viral, Mishra said.

“He forced me to convert and marry him. When I refused to convert, he made some of our intimate moments viral and blackmailed my father,” the woman alleged in the FIR.

The DCP said, “He also demanded money from her. When she did not relent, he uploaded the videos and also sent those to her family, relatives and friends.”

Mansoori’s mobile phones, allegedly used in filming their intimate moments, have also been seized and sent to a forensic lab for examination. His PAN card, Aadhaar card and some other documents were also seized, the DCP told reporters here.

A case was registered at Mahila police station under various sections of the BNS and IT Act. As the woman had earlier informed the police about Mansoori’s plan to visit Odisha and take her along with him, a trap was laid and he was captured.

Replying to a query from reporters on ‘love jihad’, the DCP said the police have been inquiring into the case from various angles including whether the accused had relationship with other women.

‘Love jihad’ is a term used by right-wing activists to allege a ploy by Muslim men to lure Hindu women into religious conversion through marriage.