Interfaith wedding drama in Thane: Nikah halted after girl alleges rape, conversion bid by tailor

BHIWANDI: A 20-year-old tailor from Bhiwandi was on Friday arrested on charges of raping a minor girl and blackmailing and attempting to force her into an inter-faith marriage when she turned 18 years old last month.

The arrest was made after activists from a Hindutva group disrupted the planned 'nikah' after being alerted by the girl's relatives. Police said they had acted on the girl's complaint.

The accused, a school dropout, has been booked by a police station in Dombivli under the Pocso Act and IPC sections related to rape and criminal intimidation. IPC has been invoked as the offence of rape is from 2024, before it was replaced by Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Police said the tailor and the girl connected via social media in 2024 when he was 18 and she was a minor, and they developed a relationship that allegedly turned abusive.

Police said the man exploited her minor status over two years to have a physical relationship with her and, when she turned 18 a month ago, put pressure on her to marry him.

On March 6, the girl travelled to Bhiwandi for the 'nikah', police said.

However, before the marriage ceremony could take place, the girl's relatives informed a Hindutva group, whose activists stormed the venue, "rescued" the girl and handed her over to the local police station, which registered an offence and handed the case over to another police station in whose jurisdiction the alleged crime had taken place.

Assistant commissioner of police Suhas Hemade said the victim alleged repeated pressure and blackmail for marriage after the physical relationship began.


(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)