BAREILLY: In a major twist to a 'love jihad' case in Uttar Pradesh, a day after three Muslim men - all relatives and in their mid-20s - were booked under the new anti-conversion law for "stalking and sexually harassing a 22-year-old married woman and forcing her to convert and marry one of them", police in Bareilly have expunged the FIR after finding the complaint "fake" and the suspects being "incorrectly framed".
Police said the woman complainant had made the serious allegations against the three men referring to a particular incident on December 1. However, the police found her charges to be false as the three men were not present in Bareilly at the time.
It is evident after investigation that all the three accused were incorrectly framed and the case has been expunged, Bareilly SSP Rohit Singh Sajwan said on Saturday.
Now, a report under IPC section 182 (false information with intent to cause a public servant to use his lawful power to the injury of another person) will be submitted against the complainant, the SSP added.
The woman, who is a nursing college student in Bareilly, was in a relationship with one of the men for over a year and had eloped with him last September, according to police. Her uncle had registered a missing complaint. She was reportedly traced and recovered after nine days and married off to another man from her community last month.
Her "friend", who works as a driver and belongs to the same neighbourhood, has been released along with the other two on Saturday after brief questioning.
In her complaint, which has now turned out to be "false", the woman had said that she was stalked by the main suspect even after her marriage.
On December 1, her "friend" allegedly stopped her at gunpoint in Bareilly, and asked her to convert and re-marry him. Thereafter, his two cousins threatened to kill members of her family. She further claimed that she may kill herself.
On Friday night, an FIR was registered at Faridpur police station under sections 354 (attempt to outrage the modesty of a woman) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of IPC along with sections 3/5 of the UP Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020, on her complaint. The FIR was, however, expunged on Saturday, police said.
“After checking the mobile surveillance report, it was evident that the men were not in the village on the day of the incident mentioned in the FIR. We have not found any evidence against them," Faridpur SHO Surinder Singh Pachauri told TOI.
"On the other hand, the facts mentioned in the woman's statement were found incorrect and she even said that she doesn’t use a mobile phone. We are now trying to find out if she had registered the complaint under someone's direction,” the SHO added.
It was a huge relief for the suspects' family. "Our children were being framed in this case. We request police to ensure an impartial probe," one of the members said.
TOI tried to contact the woman and her family, but they refused to speak on the matter.