Muslim man held for ‘conversion bid, assault’ of live-in partner in TN

CHENNAI: A 21-year-old Muslim man has been arrested for assaulting his live-in partner, a Dalit woman, and forcing her to convert her religion in Tamil Nadu’s Tirupur, police said on Thursday.

Police said the accused befriended the 21-year-old woman on Instagram and they started living together since last year.

Based on her complaint, a first information report (FIR) was registered at the Nallur police station on May 5, said a senior police officer. The woman has alleged that the accused clicked her naked photos and pressured her to wear a burqa and a hijab, police said.

“He would force himself on her, beat her after getting drunk and use casteist slurs against her,” a senior officer said, quoting from the FIR. “Fearing for my life, I went back to my home town (in Karur district) around Diwali in 2021,” the woman said in her complaint.

A month later, she went back to Tirupur district to collect her Aadhaar Card and education certificates, for which she asked him to meet her at a public place. But the accused refused to give her the documents, she has alleged. “He shared the woman’s naked photos on Whatsapp with her friends and relatives and also uploaded them on social media as she refused to convert her religion,” stated the FIR, a copy of which HT has seen.

On January 14 this year, he called and threatened to leak more photos and videos on social media. “He has been calling my parents and relatives and threatening to kill me,” she claimed.

“He was arrested on May 11 and sent to judicial custody,” said an officer, requesting anonymity.

The accused has been booked under sections 354 A (assault) and 506(I) (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and relevant sections of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the IT Act, police said.

IN HER COMPLAINT, THE WOMAN HAS ALLEGED THAT THE ACCUSED USED TO BEAT HER AFTER GETTING DRUNK & HURL CASTEIST SLURS AT HER