Hours after the Uttar Pradesh government approved the Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, the state police has started acting on it as the force lodged its first case of a forced attempt at conversion to Islam.
According to the UP police, the state has booked the accused under the newly formed law that was cleared by Governor Anandiben Patel on Saturday.
The case was registered at Bareilly’s Deorania Police station in Uttar Pradesh after a man complained of a Muslim man aiming to convert his Hindu daughter to Islam without her choice.
The father of the 20-year old woman in question alleged that the 22-year old student was forcing her to convert. He also claimed that the accused threatened the entire family with dire consequences after he was confronted.
Bareilly Rural’s Superintendent of Police (SP), Sansar Singh, told reporters that already a kidnapping case has been lodged against the accused for abducting the same girl. With the fresh charges, another case has been filed under Sections 3 and 5 of the new ordinance for putting pressure on the woman to convert and marry him, he said, while adding that the man is currently absconding though attempts are on to nab him. Sections 504 (breach of peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation) have also been pressed on the man, said Mr. Singh.
With the thumbs up from Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s Cabinet on Tuesday, the ordinance seeks to enforce a maximum punishment of 10 years imprisonment in cases related to “love jihad”.
According to the new law, if an accused if found guilty of executing forceful conversions for marriage, he can be presented with a jail term of 1 to 5 years and an additional fine of up to Rs.50,000.
The law calls a marriage “null and void” when the conversion of a woman takes place entirely for this matter. However, people who want to convert their religion post-marriage may do so by applying to the district magistrate.
States, which are governed by BJP, in the past few months have witnessed a massive outrage by the governments themselves regarding the alleged “love jihad” incidents. They believe the conversion of Hindu women to Islam for marriage is a means to spread Islam in the disguise of a wedding. BJP-run states including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana have disclosed their own set of actions and laws they seek to implement for battling the alleged “love jihad”, many of which have kickstarted their roadmaps towards it.
