KANPUR: A Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted in September to probe alleged cases of forced conversions in Kanpur has ruled out conspiracy and foreign funding. It, however, submitted a chargesheet in eight of 14 cases, where 11 youths were accused of luring girls by using fake identities and fraudulent documents, forced conversion and rape.
SIT submitted its report to IG (Kanpur range) Mohit Agarwal on Monday. All eleven youths have been arrested.
“Police have booked the accused in 11 such cases under relevant sections of IPC, including kidnapping, luring and compelling women to marriage after religious conversion. Also, it was established in eight cases that the girls were minors,” said Agarwal.
In three other cases, SIT found that the girls had married on their own will. “In three of 14 cases, SIT filed closure reports after Hindu women, all above 18 years, gave statements in favour of the accused, stating they married on their own free will,” added Agarwal.
Of the 11 cases in which action was taken against the accused, SIT found that in three cases, the accused had allegedly faked identities, churned out bogus documents to win over the girls and have been booked for fraud, said IG.
While probing ‘conspiracy’ and foreign funding angles in these 11 cases, SIT found only four Muslim youths against whom cases were lodged were known to each other. “This was corroborated by call detail records. However, there was no proof of ‘conspiracy’ or foreign funding. In three of 11 cases, the girls claimed they were forced to convert,” he added.
Police said chargesheets have been filed in eight cases and the process is on in other three. “Established procedure was not followed while changing names of girls before marriage. Also, their marriages were not registered under the Special Marriages Act,” the police officer said.
The eight-member SIT was formed in September to probe cases of alleged ‘love jihad’ after members of right-wing organisations alleged a conspiracy by Muslim youths to lure Hindu girls into marriage to convert them.