Police in Maharashtra have filed a charge sheet in a case alleging forced religious conversion at a BPO unit of a well-known IT company in Nashik. The document says young women employees were pressured to change their faith and faced sexual harassment when they resisted.
According to the case details, women aged 18 to 23 approached police in February, following which nine cases were registered. Investigators also conducted a discreet inquiry at the workplace.
Police claim the inquiry found that some Muslim male employees repeatedly urged women colleagues to convert, and harassed those who refused. Eight people, including Danish Shaikh, Tausif Attar and Nida Khan, were arrested in connection with the allegations.
The charge sheet, filed in a Nashik court last week, is based on statements from 106 people, including the complainants, their family members and company staff. In her statement, a 23-year-old woman alleged she was pressured to watch and listen to videos and speeches of Islamic clerics, including Pakistan-based preacher Tariq Jameel, and social media videos of Zakir Naik and Israr Ahmed, and said sustained pressure led to her conversion.
She also alleged that Danish Shaikh, who she said was already married, promised marriage and sexually assaulted her, and later urged her to stop worshipping Hindu deities and visiting temples, claiming it would reduce her stress.
