The Karnataka High Court has taken a tough stand in the case of raping a married woman by holding her hostage. The Karnataka High Court rejected the bail plea of a man accused of raping a married woman by holding her hostage and forcing her to convert to Islam.
In an order passed by Justice S Rachaiah of the Dharwad bench of the Karnataka High Court, the bail plea of a man named Rafiq was rejected. The single judge also said that he wanted to send a message to the society that the courts are vigilant in controlling forced conversions and protecting the underprivileged, reports Bar and Bench.
Justice Rachaiah said, “While considering bail applications, the factors which are required to be considered are the nature of the offence, its gravity and social impact etc. In the present case, the act of luring and forcefully converting innocent and poor women to Islam is a serious one and therefore, to avoid recurrence of such an evil occurrence, it is necessary to send a message to the society that the courts are vigilant to control such activities and also protect the innocent and deprived women and children of the society.”
According to the order, Rafiq befriended a married woman from the Dalit community and took her to Belagavi on the pretext of getting her a job. There, he threatened the woman, raped her multiple times, kept her locked in a room and forced her to convert to Islam. The woman eventually managed to escape and narrated the entire incident to her husband.
The couple then approached the police, following which the accused was arrested and a case was registered against him under the Indian Penal Code, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the Karnataka Protection of the Right to Freedom of Religion Act, 2022. Rafiq approached the High Court after the trial court rejected his bail.
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