UP: Minor girl alleges man forcing her to convert for marriage, lodges FIR

LUCKNOW: a minor Hindu girl filed an FIR against a Muslim man on Friday accusing him of forcing her to convert to Islam “if she wanted to marry him”. The case has been registered in the Shahabad area of the state’s Hardoi district.

As per the police sources, the man was booked under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance-2020, the Indian Penal Code, and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.

Hardoi SP Anurag Vats confirmed that the FIR was registered against a person identified as Azad at the Shahabad police station. The SP said that the minor girl had said in her complaint that she and the accused were in a relationship for the past two years and the man had promised to marry her.

The SP said the complainant, in the FIR, accused the man of putting the condition of conversion to Islam before her if she wanted to marry him just before the wedding day on November 30. “The IPC section of rape has been included in the FIR as she alleged that the accused sexually exploited her on the pretext of marriage,” the SP said.

Ever since Uttar Pradesh’s anti-conversion ordinance came into being on November 28, 2020, around 6-7 cases have been registered under it. 

Last week also, a wedding between a Hindu girl and a Muslim boy was stopped in Lucknow by the police authorities despite the consent of both the families. The couple was asked by the police authorities to approach the district magistrate letting him know that it was going to be an inter-faith marriage and that there was no forcible conversion. The couple was asked to tie the nuptial knot only after two months of informing the DM as per the provisions of the new ordinance.

Last Saturday, a Muslim man and his brother were held in Moradabad after he tried to get his marriage to a Hindu woman registered. The woman repeatedly told the police that she was getting married on her own free will.

Uttar Pradesh, which has a significant Muslim population, has been the first to pass an ordinance over anti-conversion law. According to the ordinance, a marriage will be declared null and void if a woman converts into a religion solely for marriage. Those wishing to change their religion after their wedding would need to apply to the district magistrate two months in advance.