Udupi, 29 Mar

A case has been registered against a youth in Udupi on charges of 'kidnapping' based on a complaint by the father of a 20-year-old engineering student, police said on 29 March. In a complaint filed at the Udupi Town police station on 20 March, Godwin Devadas (53) said his daughter, who studies in an engineering college in Moodbidri, got off her college bus at Kukkikatte junction in Udupi around 6 pm on the same day.

According to the complainant, while she was heading towards her aunt's house, a man named Akram Mohammed allegedly abducted her on his motorcycle. A bus driver, who witnessed the incident, informed Devadas about the incident. Devadas said he had earlier lodged a complaint against Mohammed, accusing him of harassing his daughter when she was a minor.

He alleged that the recent incident was an act of revenge. Based on his complaint, the police registered a case under Section 140 (3) of the Indian Civil Security Code (BNS). Speaking to reporters in Udupi, Godwin Devadas alleged that his daughter was a victim of 'love jihad'. He claimed that Mohammed was in touch with his daughter through Instagram for the last five years and was allegedly harassing her by threatening to release her intimate pictures on social media.

Devadas expressed dissatisfaction over the police, saying they did not take any action on his complaint lodged a week ago. According to him, the police told him that they cannot interfere in a matter involving consenting adults and even showed him a video of the couple living together voluntarily. In response, Devadas has filed a habeas corpus petition before the high court, seeking directions to the Udupi Town police to produce his daughter before the court. A division bench on 28 March heard the petition and adjourned it till 4 April.

Meanwhile, Mohammed has submitted an application for registration of his marriage under the Special Marriage Act. He has also filed an application seeking anticipatory bail before the Udupi Principal District and Sessions Court under Section 482 of the Indian Civil Protection Code (BNSS). According to court officials, the hearing on Mohammed's petition has been adjourned to 2 April pending objections from the public prosecutor.