New Delhi: Pinki, a woman who was forced to go to a foster home because she was in an interfaith marriage and whose husband was arrested by the police, has said in court that she is an adult, married of her own free will and wanted to return to the her husband’s family instead of staying at the shelter. According to the Indian express, the court allowed him to do so. Her husband, Rashid Ali, remains in jail.
Pinki and Rashid were married five months ago. On December 5, they went to a marriage registration office in Moradabad to register the marriage. Once there, the Bajrang Dal activists detained them and took them to the local police station. Rashid and his brother, who was accompanying the couple, were arrested.
“I am an adult, I am 22 years old. I got married of my own free will on July 24. This is the fifth month we got married, ”the woman told Bajrang Dal members, seen in a video that has gone viral. However, the men continued to speak out about Uttar Pradesh’s controversial new ‘anti-conversion’, which has already been used to harass several interfaith couples.
Police said Pinki, who is three months pregnant, had no proof of marriage and her parents had complained that Rashid had forced her to convert. In her statement to the magistrate, Pinki reiterated this and said that she was born in 1998 and was therefore an adult.
While in the foster home, Pinki had complained of abdominal pain and had been taken to the hospital twice. Doctors said they watched her and the fetus was fine.
Moradabad police have said they will seek legal opinion on whether Pinki’s statement, that she and Rashid were married long before the new law took effect, changes the case against Rashid and her brother. “All details, including Pinki’s claim of nikah and conversion, would be verified. The documents related to the claim would be checked. The police will also receive a statement from the girl’s family and others, ”said Moradabad Senior Police Superintendent Prabhakar Chaudhary. Indian express.
The case against Rashid was the fifth to be filed in Uttar Pradesh since the anti-conversion ordinance became law a week ago. Before that, a 21-year-old man was arrested in Bareilly under the love jihad legislation while seven people were arrested and eight were arrested in Sitapur, while 14 people were arrested in Mau and two indicted in Muzaffarnagar.
In recent weeks, BJP-run states such as Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Madhya Pradesh have revealed plans to enact laws to counter “love jihad,” a term coined by Sangh. give birth costumes to describe an imaginary Muslim conspiracy to convert unsuspecting Hindu women to Islam.
Uttar Pradesh, which has a significant Muslim population, has been the first to pass an ordinance or executive order to address “love jihad.” Under the ordinance, a marriage will be declared null and void if a woman converts to a religion solely by marriage. Those who wish to change their religion after their wedding must file a request with the district judge one month in advance.
The state cabinet passed the ordinance despite the fact that on November 11, the Allahabad high court denounced a sentence by a single judge that Prime Minister Yogi Adityanath had openly cited as proof that his crusade against ‘love jihad’ had merit.
The BJP-led government in Madhya Pradesh has also said it is proposing a 10-year prison term for anyone found guilty of using marriage to force someone to change their religion.
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