Surat: In yet another case of rape after luring a Hindu girl in a ‘Love Jihad’ incident, Ichhapore police have arrested five persons, including the main accused, in connection with the alleged rape of a 16-year-old Hindu girl. She was reportedly lured through social media and sexually assaulted multiple times.

The prime accused, 23-year-old Mohammad Sajid alias Ahad Pathan, a resident of Krishnanagar Society in Ichhapore, was arrested within hours of the complaint. During police remand, the involvement of four more persons, including his brother, in helping him commit and conceal the crime came to light, and they were nabbed by police subsequently.

The other four accused in the case are Mohammad Tabish Mohammad Javed Pathan, Jamiraja Shamshul Sheikh, Mohammad Khurshid alias Shushil Mohammad Rasid Rayan, and Abhay Kumar Pradeep Sharma.

It is learnt that two of them helped the main accused while he was in hiding, while a third acted as a messenger between the accused and the victim and also accompanied them to the hotel where the crime took place.

The fourth accused, Abhay, allegedly assisted Mohammad Sajid by changing his name to Abhishek Gupta on his Aadhaar card, enabling him to pose as a Hindu since the hotel reportedly did not allow inter-faith couples. It is also learnt that the name was changed on the Aadhaar card using AI technology. The accused had reportedly altered the victim’s age on her Aadhaar from 16 to 18 so she could enter the hotel.

Police said the minor Hindu girl, a Class 12 student originally from Uttar Pradesh and living in the Ichhapore area with her family, came in contact with the accused through social media. He allegedly trapped her in a relationship on the pretext of marriage and took her to a hotel, where he established physical relations with her. After the incident came to the notice of the girl’s parents, they lodged a complaint at Ichhapore police station, following which the accused was booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

During the investigation, police found that the accused had given the minor a mobile phone and allegedly used it to obtain objectionable photographs by threatening her. Earlier, when the girl’s family had objected to the relationship, the accused allegedly issued threats to kill her brother. The girl had recently appeared for her Class 12 board examinations, while the accused was working at a glass manufacturing unit in Surat. DeshGujarat