The Hindu bride claims that she is an adult and is married of her own free will.
Police in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, arrested a Muslim and his brother on Saturday under the new anti-conversion law while they were in the process of registering their marriage to a Hindu woman from Bijnore.
The couple, who arrived at the Kanth registration office, were turned over to the police by members of a right-wing team that prevented them from completing the registration process.
Also read: Seven arrested under the law against conversion in Uttar Pradesh
The woman said she was an adult and married the man on July 24 in Dehradun of her own free will. “I got married willingly. I am an adult, 22 years old, ”the woman told reporters, adding that they had been friends for two years.
They had been staying at Kanth, where the man is from, for the past four or five months, he said. It was not clear whether the woman or the man had changed their religion.
While members of the right-wing group took credit for the arrest, police claimed that they acted on the basis of information provided by the woman’s parents.
Fifth case
The two brothers were registered under Uttar Pradesh’s Illegal Conversion of Religion Prohibition Ordinance, 2020. It is the fifth such case to come under the new law. After a 21-year-old man was arrested in Bareilly, seven people were arrested and eight were booked in Sitapur, while 14 people were booked in Mau and two were charged in Muzaffarnagar.
Read also: Declaration in the Supreme Court against the ordinances on religious conversion
The FIR was filed under Sections 3 and 5 of the new ordinance based on a complaint filed by the woman’s mother, said Kanth Police Station Officer Ajay Gautam. In her complaint, the mother alleges that the man induced her daughter to marry and converted her on the pretext of getting her a job.
When it was pointed out that the woman was consensually registering her marriage, Mr. Gautam said that “it will all come to light during the investigation.”
“You will have the opportunity to say what you want in court,” the officer said.
When asked by reporters if the couple had registered a judicial marriage, Moradabad (Rural) Deputy Superintendent of Police Vidya Sagar Mishra said that so far no such evidence had been presented to the police.
Members of the right-wing group, who spoke to local media, said they arrived at Kanth tehsil’s office after receiving information that a Hindu woman from Dehradun had come to Kanth with a Muslim to convert and marry in court.
“When I arrived with my workers, they (the couple) had left the tehsil store. We chased them and caught them near a Ravidas temple, ”said one leader.
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