Three held for forcing woman to convert in UP

LUCKNOW: Balrampur police arrested three men from Rhera Bazaar area on Friday following an FIR in which they were accused of disrespecting a temple and forcing a woman to convert to Islam.
Police said the accused, Abdul Manan, Irfan and Afrid Raza, were identified based on CCTV footage and booked under charges of UP Prohibition of Lawful Conversion of Religion Act, defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion and other provisions of Indian Penal Code SHO, Rhera Bazaar, OP Chauhan said that a woman Neha (name changed) was forced to convert her religion by the three arrested accused. "It had all started on December 26, when the woman was returning home from the market and had spotted the accused entering a place of worship, vandalising it and defiling it," said Chauhan.
The woman raised objections, after which the three youths forced her to change her religion first and then thrashed her when she resisted, the SHO added. The SHO said locals objected but the three threatened them with dire consequences and fled away.
The cops scanned the CCTV footage nearby the temple and identified the youths, all in their early 20s, following which they were arrested.
"So far we have not found the criminal record of the accused other than being named in this case," a senior police officer added.
Recently, one Kamlesh was arrested in Hardoi and 23 people were arrested in Sitapur last week for forcefully converting people to Christianity.