‘Love Jihad’ Shadow In Odisha Woman’s Kidnapping

Jajpur: A day after she was rescued from Cuttack from her alleged abductor, a 21-year-old woman from Dharmasala in Jajpur district will record her statement before a magistrate on Friday.

The woman’s family has alleged that it was a case of ‘Love Jihad’.

Notably, the woman was allegedly kidnapped by a youth, Shaikh Abdul Sehmat Khan alias Bobby, from Dharmasala on December 5.

On December 15, the woman’s father had filed a petition in the Orissa High Court after police allegedly refused to register a complaint.

In his petition, the father mentioned that his daughter had gone missing after she went to Vyasa Nagar Autonomous College at Jajpur Road to collect her migration certificate.

He alleged that Bobby had threatened to kidnap and marry his daughter after changing her religion.

The woman’s father also alleged Dharmasala police had refused to file an FIR and even the Jajpur SP and District Collector had failed to intervene in the matter.

It was only after an audio clip of a telephonic conversation between the woman and her mother went viral on social media that Dharmasala police launched an investigation and rescued the woman from Shikharpur area in Cuttack on Thursday night.

In the audio clip, the woman could be heard pleading for her freedom from the clutches of Bobby who was forcing her to marry him.

Police have also arrested Bobby and his father in the case.

On Friday, police sources said the victim woman will be first taken for medical examination and then record her statement before a magistrate under Section 164 of the CrPC.

She would tell the magistrate in detail about her whereabouts in the 12 days after she was kidnapped and the exact reason behind her kidnapping, the sources added.

When contacted, Jajpur Collector Chakravarty Singh Rathore said, “This is a sensitive matter. That is why the SP himself is conducting the probe.”

He refused to divulge further details. “This case is under investigation and it will not be fair to comment anything before any concrete evidence comes to the fore.”

Notably, the Jajpur unit of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) had also registered an FIR in this connection.

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