Any settlement in a case of rape & conversion not acceptable: HC

PRAYAGRAJ: Allahabad high court has dismissed a petition seeking to quash criminal proceedings in a case of alleged rape and unlawful religious conversion of a woman, ruling that such offences are too serious to be nullified through a settlement.
Justice Manju Rani Chauhan, in an order issued March 27, underscored the gravity of unlawful religious conversions, particularly those achieved through coercion, fraud, or undue influence.
The petition was filed by Taufik Ahmad, one of three men accused in the case.
However, the court was unyielding, ruling: "Any compromise or settlement with respect to the offence of rape is not acceptable."
According to the complaint filed on May 7, 2021, the woman had met primary accused Mohammad Ayan on Facebook. She alleged that Ayan posed as a Hindu and courted her online for a year before proposing marriage. After she accepted, he allegedly took her to Nawabnagar in Rampur, where she was held for six months.
During that time, she discovered he was Muslim. When she refused to marry him, she claimed he and the two other accused assaulted and raped her.