Indian court declines to drop rape charges against Muslim man

A top court in northern India’s Uttar Pradesh state has refused to withdraw rape charges against a Muslim man who claimed that his victim, a Hindu woman, agreed not to press charges after converting to Islam.

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The Allahabad High Court last week dismissed Taufik Ahmad's petition "to squash charges" against him based on his claim that he and his victim had reached a compromise outside of the court.

"Any compromise or settlement concerning the offense of rape... is not acceptable to this court," Justice Manju Rani Chauhan said while dismissing the petition on March 27.

The case started in July 2021, when the woman complained to police in Rampur district that Ahmad and his friends raped her.

According to the court documents, the man and woman became friends through social media, where Ahmed posed as Rahul Kumar, a Hindu.

They agreed to marry, and Ahmed invited her to his Nawabnagar village, where she learned he was a Muslim and tried to escape.