A 22-year-old gym trainer from Palghar has been arrested after a woman accused him of rape, physical abuse, and trying to force her to convert to his religion under the pretext of marriage.
The accused, Arif Ayub Shaikh, was arrested on Tuesday from Nalasopara, following a complaint filed by a 23-year-old woman on Monday (October 12). Following his arrest, the accused was produced before a local court, which remanded him in police custody for three days.
Social media friendship
According to the complainant, Shaikh befriended her on social media in April 2025 and, after gaining her trust, he took her to his house, where he sexually assaulted her on several occasions. The woman also accused Shaikh of physically abusing her and forcing her to undergo religious conversion under the pretext of marriage.
During the investigation, police recovered more than 100 explicit video clips from Shaikh’s mobile phone, with preliminary findings suggesting that some of the footage may have been distributed abroad.
Policespeak
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone-III) Shashikant Borate said cases have been registered against the main accused, his mother and his cousin under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) pertaining to rape, wrongful confinement, voluntarily causing hurt, assault and criminal intimidation.
It is love jihad: BJP leader
Meanwhile, BJP leader Kirit Somaiya dubbed it as a case of “love jihad.” Love jihad is a term used by right-wing activists to allege a ploy by Muslim men to lure Hindu women into religious conversion through marriage. Somaiya also visited the Nalasopara police station on Tuesday.
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