The Nagpur police have arrested the cleric who was wanted in the case of alleged forced conversion of a 24-year-old woman. Hazrat Maulana has been arrested from Madhya Pradesh.
The sensational case of the wife of an Air Force official’s alleged conversion and abuse had come to light earlier this week. The woman has accused an old classmate and his associates of rape, blackmail, black magic, and forced religious conversion.
A video of a Muslim man holding a woman’s hand and chanting verses in Urdu (kalma) had gone viral, triggering widespread outrage.
The main accused Ayyaz Madare (26) and his associate Ameen Shaikh are already in police custody. The arrested cleric had allegedly played an active role in alleged conversion and nikah.
According to the FIR, on February 8, 2025, during a meeting at a hotel, Ayaaz allegedly spiked the 24-year-old woman’s drink. When she regained consciousness, the accused had allegedly recorded objectionable photos and videos of her. He then blackmailed her, threatening to send the videos to her husband and circulate them on social media. The victim alleged she was repeatedly sexually assaulted and around Rs 4 lakh was extorted from her.
In the video, the woman is seen crying and pleading with the accused, Ayaaz Madare (26), to let her go. “Chhodo Mujhe” (let me go), the woman is heard saying in the video as Ayaaz forcefully holds her hands while chanting religious verses and repeatedly blowing over her. The woman is seen struggling to break free. The woman alleges that she was subsequently declared “converted” and that an attempt was made to rape her thereafter.
The woman further alleged in the FIR that Ayaaz would often bring a plastic bottle with some liquid and force her to drink it. He would then allegedly mutter in Urdu, blow on her face, and claim it was “hypnosis and black magic” before raping her. The video allegedly shows black magic or hypnosis ritual.
In another incident cited in the complaint, on May 31, Madare and his associate forcibly took the woman to Kalmeshwar. There, the third accused – Hazrat Maulana from Tamia village in Chhindwara district, Madhya Pradesh – allegedly performed religious rituals and forced her to say “qubool hai” to convert her. The woman alleged this was done against her will. After the ritual, the maulana declared that she had converted to Islam and that her ‘nikah’ with Ayaaz had been performed.
Police say more information is likely to emerge during the cleric’s interrogation. Police will now try to obtain the ‘nikahnama‘ (marriage certificate) and investigate if more people were involved. They will also probe whether other women were similarly forced to convert.
