UP: Man, his parents, siblings booked for ‘love jihad’

A 27-year-old man, his parents, three siblings and three others have been booked under section 3/5 of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Ordinance, 2020 in Shahjahanpur district.

This is the tenth such case in the state after the new law came into force.

The man has been also booked on charges of rape and extortion the complaint of a 40-year-old woman, who is married and mother of a 20-year-old boy and a 17-year-old daughter. Her husband works in a metropolitan city.

Accompanied by Bajrang Dal activists, the woman went to the Chowk Kotwali police station on Friday to register the complaint.

The victim alleged that the accused had introduced himself as Sunil and befriended her. One day, he allegedly raped her at gunpoint and took her obscene pictures which he used for blackmailing her.

"Later, he revealed that he is a Muslim and forced me to convert for 'nikah' with the help of his family members and a cleric. When she resisted, she was allegedly raped on the instructions of the cleric. The accused had also blackmailed her to extort money," the woman said.

The FIR has been registered under sections 376 (rape), 384, (extortion), 147 (rioting), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation) along with section 3/5 of the UP Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Ordinance, 2020.

Additional Superintendent of POlice (ASP) Sanjay Kumar told reporters, "After initial investigation, we have found that the woman was in a relationship with the accused for the past five years. The main accused has been arrested and sent to jail but we did not find direct involvement in the crime by any co-accused as of now. Our investigation is on."

The ASP, when asked about the presence of Bajrang Dal activists at the time of the filing of FIR, said, "Bajrang Dal leaders had accompanied the woman but there was no pressure on us."