Monday marked a month since the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh approved a new anti-conversion law to check what it calls “Love jihad”. Since UP’s Prohibition of Illegal Conversion of Religion Ordinance of 2020 came into effect on November 28, records show that UP Police have recorded 14 cases and made 51 arrests, of which 49 are in jail.
Of these 14 cases, 13 involve Hindu women allegedly pressured to convert to Islam. Only in two cases is the complainant the woman in question; in the remaining 12, the complainants are their relatives. Two of them involved right-wing Hindu activists who held protests at the police station. In all but one case, the woman involved is an adult. In eight cases, the couple are said to be friends or in a “relationship”; while a couple claims to be married.
One case involves an alleged illegal conversion to Christianity, recorded against three people in Azamgarh.
In two cases, the women, both married to other people, have refused to have their statements recorded, alleging “social pressure”. In two others, women have filed rape charges. Three of the women allegedly pressured to convert are Dalits.
While Bijnor district has seen three cases and Shahjahanpur two, others have been reported in Bareilly, Muzaffarnagar, Mau, Sitapur, Hardoi, Etah, Kannauj, Azamgarh and Moradabad districts. In one case, the police have not been able to find the woman involved.
* Deorania Police Station, Bareilly
The case was brought against Owais Ahmed, 24, on the same day the ordinance went into effect. Ahmed, who is in custody, was accused of pressuring a married Hindu woman to convert and threatening her parents. Preliminary investigation has indicated that the two were in a relationship and had eloped in the past year, before they were found and returned. Although Ahmed was also arrested at the time, the woman denied in court the kidnapping charges that her father had brought to her.
Deorania Station House Officer (SHO) Daya Shankar said the woman, who is staying with her in-laws, had refused to have her statement recorded before a magistrate due to “social pressure.”
* Mansoorpur Police Station in Muzaffarnagar
Nadeem, 34, was booked along with a friend, Suleman, on Nov. 29 for allegedly harassing and pressuring the wife of a private contractor to convert and marry him. Both Nadeem and Suleman work as laborers in a factory in Haridwar, where the contractor was previously based. The contractor, who brought the case, said Nadeem frequented his home to work and gradually developed a friendship with his wife, forcing him to move with his wife and family to Muzaffarnagar. On December 18, the Allahabad High Court suspended the criminal proceedings against Nadeem. Suleman was never arrested for lack of evidence, SHO, Mansoorpur, Kushal Pal Singh said.
The woman has refused to record her statement before a magistrate.
* Chiraiyakot Police Station, Mau
Shabad Khan, 32, and 10 other people, including his friends and family, were arrested for allegedly abducting a 24-year-old woman on the eve of her marriage on November 30, with the intention of converting her. The woman’s father, who filed the complaint, told police that neighbors had told him what Shabad, who is married, was planning. Police said efforts were being made to locate three others.
Additional Police Superintendent Mau, TN Tripathi said they had found the woman but were unable to record her statement because she had tested positive for Covid-19.
* Tambor Police Station, Sitapur
Jibrail, 22, a taxi driver, and six members of his family were initially booked for allegedly kidnapping a 19-year-old woman, at the complaint of her father. A week later, on December 3, her uncle filed a new complaint saying that he had learned that Jibrail had converted the woman, prompting the police to invoke the anti-conversion law. Jibrail has not been arrested so far, nor has the woman been found, although 13 others, including friends and family of Jibrail, have been arrested, said Tambor station officer Amit Singh Bhadouria.
* Sahabad Police Station, Hardoi
On December 11, an 18-year-old woman brought a case against Mohammad Azad, 24, alleging rape and attempts to convert her by force, leading to her arrest. The teenager said she had been in a relationship with Azad for two years and that he had repeatedly raped her with the promise of marriage, then pressuring her to convert first. He also told police that he suspected Azad was planning to take her to Delhi and put her in human trafficking. While the woman previously claimed she was a minor, police said a medical examination and government documents proved otherwise.
In a recorded statement before a magistrate, she has supported the charges, said SHO, Sahabad, Shiv Shankar Singh.
* Kotwali Police Station, Bijnor
Mohammad Afzal, 22, a worker, was arrested on December 10 for allegedly kidnapping a 19-year-old girl and trying to convert her, at the complaint of her father, also a laborer. The woman’s family recently moved from Bijnor to Chandigarh, but she had come to Bijnor for a family function, when Afzal reportedly abducted her.
She had supported the FIR charges in a statement to a magistrate, said SHO, Kotwali, Rajesh Singh.
* Dhampur Police Station, Bijnor
Mohammad Saqib, 19, was arrested for allegedly concealing his identity to lure a Dalit minor into marriage. Police said the two had been in a relationship for a year and that he had introduced himself as Sonu, and she got to know his true identity only when they eloped on December 14. The girl reportedly returned home alone at that time, and her father filed an FIR against Saqib on various charges, including kidnapping and under the SC / ST Law.
In a statement to a magistrate, the girl had supported the charges, said SHO, Dhampur, Arun Tyagi.
* Jalesar Police Station, Etah
On December 17, the family of a 22-year-old woman approached the police saying that she had been forcibly converted by her neighbor, Mohammad Javed, 28. Police say the woman had left her home with Javed on November 17 and her family did not. File any complaints until you wrote to them informing them of your conversion and marriage to Javed, who owns a cloth shop in Jalesar. A case was brought against six people, including three women, on various charges, while 14 people have been arrested, including family and friends of Javed. Javed is still missing.
The woman’s statement has not yet been recorded, SHO KP Singh said.
* Kotwali Police Station, Shahjahanpur
Mohammad Saeed, 32, was arrested on December 18 for allegedly coercing a 42-year-old married mother of two into changing her religion to marry. The woman introduced the FIR saying that they met about four years ago when Saeed came home to work, introducing himself as Sunil Kumar. She claimed that they had become friends and that he had later sexually assaulted her and was now pressuring her to get married.
His statement had been recorded, Kotwali SHO Parvesh Singh said.
* Gurusahaiganj Police Station, Kannauj
Mohammad Taufeeq, 32, was arrested last week for marrying a 29-year-old woman after allegedly hiding his identity and then forcing her to convert. The woman’s father alleged that he had impersonated Rahul Verma and that they realized his true identity only when the two went to Lucknow about 15 days ago and the woman left him to return home.
In her statement to a magistrate, the woman had supported the charges, SHO, Gurusahaiganj, Raja Dinesh Singh said.
* Deedarganj Police Station, Azamgarh
Three people were arrested on December 20 for allegedly trying to convert their neighbors to Christianity. The defendants, Bal Chand Jaiswal, Gopal Prajapati and Neeraj Kumar, were praying at the home of one Tribhuvan Yadav when the police arrested them over a complaint from neighbor Ashok Yadav. Police said all three worked as preachers, having converted to Christianity. On Monday, a court sent the three to judicial custody.
Tribhuvan Yadav has given a statement against the defendant, SHO, Deedarganj, said Sanjay Kumar Singh.
* Meeranpur Katra Police Station, Shahjahanpur
Mohsin, 22, was arrested along with her friend Sadiq on December 17 for allegedly kidnapping a woman, taking her to Delhi and attempting to convert her before marriage, based on her uncle’s complaint. The two were arrested three days later after right-wing activists held a dharna at the police station.
SHO, Katra, Harpal Singh Baliyan said the woman had supported the charges in her statement.
* Kanth Police Station, Moradabad
Rashid Ali, 23, was detained with his brother on December 5, while on his way to register his marriage to Pinki, at the complaint of his mother. Pinki was taken to a shelter. Suspected Bajrang Dal activists reportedly assaulted the two brothers before being detained by the police. Two weeks later, after Pinki released a statement endorsing the brothers, they were released on bail. While the case is still under investigation, she is back at her in-laws’ house. She claimed to have suffered a miscarriage during her stay at the home, although authorities have claimed this is unclear from medical evidence as of yet.
SHO, Kanth, Ajay Kumar Gautam said that the investigation is ongoing and the statements of the locals are being recorded.
* Dhampur Police Station, Bijnor
A teenager was arrested on December 14 for allegedly trying to induce an underage Dalit girl to elope with him with the intention of marrying and converting her. The young man, who claims to be a minor although the police say he is 19 years old, and the girl, 16, are former partners. Both initially claimed that they were returning after a friend’s birthday party when they were chased by a group of men, who beat them and took them to a police station. Later, the girl’s father filed an FIR against the teenager and he was arrested. Speaking to The Indian Express, the girl had denied the charges, while her father had said that he had filed the complaint under police pressure.
The circle’s official, Bijnor, Ajay Agarwal, said the girl’s statement had been recorded and that she had supported the charges made by her father.
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