Jharkhand shooter Tara Sahdev’s husband Ranjit Kumar Kohli was arrested late on Tuesday night after the shooter accused him of forcing her to convert to Islam.
Married just for two months, Ms Sahdev had approached the police and women’s commission last week, with a story of duplicity and torture.
During courtship, the rich and influential man she knew as Kohli pretended to be a Hindu, Ms Sahdev told the police. Even his family had helped preserve that illusion. But after the wedding, he asked her to convert. When she refused, she was kept in captivity for a month, before she managed to escape.
The news of national shooter Tara Sahdev’s husband unleashing dogs on her has sent shock chills across the nation. The reason behind this heinous act has been her decision of not agreeing for the religion conversion as demanded by her husband. Jharkhand born Tara Sahdev has alleged that her husband Ranjit Kumar Kohli had been pressurizing to convert her religion to Islam and when she denied doing anything of that sort, she was subjected to physical assaults on various occasions – including dogs being unleashed on her and also keeping her without food for days.
In her claims, Tara Sahdev accused Ranjit Kumar Kohli of marrying her under pretext of wrong identity and that he was a Muslim man named Rakibul Hasan. The national shooter said that she was wooed by Ranjit who used to come and watch her practice on the shooting grounds. The two came close and got married on July 7 in a grand affair that was attended by several big names, including politicians. But the nightmare began from the first night itself when Ranjit Kumar Kohli alias Rakibul Hasan called 20-25 Hajis and forced Tara to convert to Islam. And when she refused, she was brutally assaulted and left to be bitten by dogs. Rakibul also tried to physical force himself upon her.
Tara Sahdev had registered the complaint and gave her statement against her husband in front of DSP Deepak Kumar. She had also decided to report her turmoil to State National Commission for Women’s chief, Mahua Manjhi and BJP leader Ajay Nath Shahdev.
Ms Sahdev had also pointed fingers at the state’s minority welfare minister. It was Kohli’s connection with the minister that kept him out of police net, she alleged. The minister, Haji Hussain Ansari, had shrugged off the charge, calling it a “small matter”.
Now, the police are tightlipped on the arrest. “We are investigating. The complaint was regarding alleged conversion and abuse,” was all that Jharkhand Director General of Police Rajeev Kumar said.
Before his arrest, Kohli had sent an e-mail to the media and the police, claiming he was not a Muslim and that he never asked the girl to convert to Islam. But Ms Sahdev is sticking to her guns.
