Dalit man in Karnataka forcibly converted, circumcised, made to eat beef

The victim, Gangadhar, who hails from Mandya, in his complaint, said his name, too, was changed to Mohammed Salman

Sriram Sene chief Pramod Mutalik has strongly condemned the alleged conversion of a Hindu youth from Mandya district to Islam at Navanagar in Hubballi.

Sridhar Gangadhar (26), a dalit man, was allegedly converted to Islam forcibly, circumcised and compelled to eat beef against his wish, police said on Sunday.

Based on a complaint from Sridhar, the police said they had registered a case against 12 people, but no arrests have been made. Referring to a complaint lodged with the APMC police station in Navanagar by Sridhar, Mutalik said the man was forced to covert to Islam at gunpoint.

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He said the government should act tough against the perpetrators of the offence. The state government has got the anti-conversion bill passed in the legislature and that it should show its commitment to act against forced conversions, he said.

Muthalik pointed out madarsas were behind such acts.

Sridhar, hails from Yadavanahalli village in Maddur taluk. He said he was kept at a mosque at Banashankari in Bengaluru, circumcised and that his name was changed to Mohammed Salman.

The complainant claimed the accused trained him in the practices of Islam at different places in Bengaluru and Andhra Pradesh.

The accused allegedly gave a pistol in his hand, took a photograph and threatened to post it on social media to project him as a terrorist, if he did not convert at least three Hindus, he said.

It all started in May, when Rehman allegedly took him to the Banashankari mosque, where Aziz Sab, another accused, started indoctrinating him in Islam, police claimed quoting the complaint.

In Bengaluru, he was taken to several mosques and forced to eat beef. When he refused to eat, he was beaten up, the complaint claimed.

The accused also took him to mosques in Tirupati and other places, police claimed. He lodged the complaint on September 9 on returning to Hubballi, they said. Efforts are on to verify the claims of the complainant, the police added.

(With PTI inputs)