Palghar, Oct 14 A 22-year-old social media influencer and gym trainer has been arrested in Maharashtra’s Palghar district after a woman accused him of rape, physical abuse, and trying to force her to convert to his religion under the pretext of marriage, officials said on Wednesday.
The accused, identified as Arif Ayub Shaikh, was arrested on Tuesday from Nalasopara area, the officials said.
BJP leader Kirit Somaiya dubbed it as a case of “love jihad”, and said a “big gang” was apparently exploiting young Hindu girls in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
‘Love jihad’ is a term used by right-wing activists to allege a ploy by Muslim men to lure Hindu women into religious conversion through marriage.
As per the complaint lodged by the 23-year-old woman on October 12, Shaikh befriended her on a social media platform in April 2025 and, after gaining her trust, he took her to his house, where he sexually assaulted her on several occasions, the officials said.
The victim accused Shaikh of subjecting her to physical abuse and forcing her, along with his mother Ruksana, to undergo religious conversion under the pretext of marriage. The complainant also accused the social media influencer’s cousin, Sahil Shaikh, of trying to assault her.
During the investigation, authorities recovered more than 100 explicit video clips from Arif Shaikh’s mobile phone, with preliminary findings suggesting that some of the footage may have been distributed abroad.
Following his arrest, the accused was produced before a local court, which remanded him in police custody for three days.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 3) Shashikant Borate said cases have been registered against the main accused, his mother and his cousin under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) pertaining to rape, wrongful confinement, voluntarily causing hurt, assault and criminal intimidation.
Earlier this week, another case was registered against Shaikh at the Nalasopara police station for allegedly passing objectionable remarks over the Navratri festival. He was booked under the charge of deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings of any class of citizens.
Meanwhile, BJP leader Somaiya visited the Nalasopara police station on Tuesday to get information about the action taken in the case.
In a post on X, he said, “Exposed Nalasopara Mumbai Love JIHAD. 16 to 22 years old 1 dozen Hindu girls cheated, sexually exploited. More than 30 videos found from Arif Shaikh and The Gang. Four FIRs registered in 2 days.”
In another post, the former BJP MP said, “Nalasopara Love JIHAD. More than 100 videos of more than dozen 16 to 23 year old Hindu girls…from Nalasopara, Kandivali, Borivali, Navi Mumbai…Arif, Sohail, Ahmad Memon, Ruksana…involvement of dozen such gangsters exposed till now. Foreign transactions found on Arif Shaikh mobile. Seems a big gang exploiting young Hindu girls of Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
(PTI News)
