Vadodara man held for ‘assaulting wife and conversion bid’

Vadodara city police on Wednesday arrested a man in a case of domestic violence, assault and criminal intimidation after his wife filed a complaint against him at the Fatehgunj police station stating that the accused was allegedly pressuring her to convert to Islam, following their mixed marriage.

The complainant has stated that the accused husband, identified as Tousif Rana, allegedly inflicted mental and physical torture on his wife, after the couple married under the Special Marriage Act, 1954 in July 2018.

The complainant said, “He began abusing me frequently, assaulting me and even inflicting mental torture by threatening to kill members of my immediate family if I refused to comply with his demand of having me convert to Islam. When he threatened to harm my family again, I was forced to approach the police for the safety of my family.”

Rana was arrested after clearing the mandatory Covid-19 test for accused in cases of crime on Wednesday.

He has been booked under Indian Penal Code sections 498 (A) for domestic violence, 323 for assault, 504 for intentional insult and 506 (2) for criminal intimidation. The Fatehgunj police station has also additionally booked Rana under the The Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act (2003) for “forcing” his wife to convert to another religion against her will.