Prateek Tanmay
3 min readAhmedabadJun 17, 2026 08:31 PM IST
The Kutch East Police on Wednesday said they have arrested a 27-year-old man from Ahmedabad and the imam of a dargah in Rajasthan in connection with the alleged religious conversion and marriage of a minor in July 2025.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) Sagar Sambada said they have arrested Mohammad Ramzan Jaanmohammad, the Imam/Kazi of the Khwaja Saheb Dargah in Ajmer, for the illegal religious conversion of the minor and then presiding over her marriage with Jaheen Abdul Chauhan on July 21 last year.
The Imam was arrested on June 15 and produced before court, which remanded him in police custody till June 19. She is still a minor, the DySP said.
The main accused, Chauhan, who married the minor, was arrested on June 13 and he was remanded in police custody till June 19.
Chauhan was booked on charges of aggravated rape, kidnapping, causing hurt, criminal intimidation, and under several sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act on June 12 on the basis of a complaint filed by the minor’s parent, police said.
The imam was booked under relevant sections of the Gujarat Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Act, 2021, as well as sections of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, in the same FIR.
The jurisdictional police inspector told The Indian Express, “The prime accused, Jaheen Abdul Chauhan, who works in the catering business, was in a relationship with the minor. Last year, he took her to the Khwaja Saheb Dargah in Ajmer, Rajasthan, falsely gave the minor’s age as 21 years, had her converted to Islam, before marrying her.”
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The inspector said, “The nikah register of the dargah shows the minor’s age as 21 years.
Asked if the Imam was misled by Chauhan, the Investigation Officer (IO) said, “The Imam, in his defence, has said that he was misled, but it was his responsibility to cross-check the ID proof to verify the age of the couple before presiding over a marriage.”
The inspector said that the family approached the police only recently as the accused was allegedly intimidating them.
Further investigation is underway.
