Rickshaw Driver Held for Blackmail, Rape of Hindu Woman in Rajkot

Rajkot: A shocking case of prolonged sexual assault has emerged from the Aji Dam police station area. A 45-year-old Hindu woman filed a complaint alleging that rickshaw puller Zubair Qasim Qureshi raped her multiple times over the past four years. He exploited their acquaintance and blackmailed her with an obscene video.

According to an OpIndia report, the FIR, registered on March 25, 2026, states that Qureshi threatened to make the video viral and defame her in society if she resisted or spoke out.

The victim alleged that the ordeal began around four years ago when she took Qureshi’s rickshaw to the Vagudad Mataji Temple in Rajkot for darshan. He built her trust by waiving the fare and sharing his mobile number, gradually increasing contact. One afternoon, he arrived at her home uninvited, raped her against her will, and recorded the video to begin the blackmail.

Qureshi kept the victim in constant fear, warning that he would send the video to her relatives. To intimidate her further, he falsely claimed her brother was in jail for murder, reinforcing his criminal image. This enabled him to physically and mentally abuse her from January 2022 to February 2026.

Beyond rape, Qureshi turned violent. About a month ago, he fought with her over a phone call dispute, beat her severely, and broke the little finger on her left hand. Even as she bled, he called a friend to bandage the injury and hush it up.

Fed up with the torture, the woman approached Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad activists for help. They assisted her in filing a written complaint at the Rajkot Police Commissioner’s Office. Aji Dam police promptly registered a case against Qureshi under relevant sections for rape, voluntarily causing grievous hurt, and criminal intimidation, then arrested him. He remains in custody.

National-level Joint Secretary of the Dharma Prasar Department in Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Dharmendra Bhavani, told OpIndia that when the woman contacted the police, the accused claimed links with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). It has also been alleged that the accused coerced and pressured the victim to convert to Islam by taking her to Gebanshah Peer Dargah.