Kushinagar police arrested the marriage of a 39-year-old man and a 28-year-old woman, both Muslim.
Lucknow:
Two days after a wedding ceremony was stopped and a couple from Kushinagar, eastern Uttar Pradesh, were taken to a police station for “questioning”, UP police have said they were not breaking the law and were simply acting to verify information about a crime under state regulations. new strict illegal conversion law.
On Tuesday night, police in Kushinagar, 325 km from the state capital Lucknow, arrested the marriage of a 39-year-old man and a 28-year-old woman, both Muslim, and took them to a police station where, according to reportedly, they were questioned. all night during the marriage.
“A person from the village informed us that a woman was being forcibly married in the village and that she was Hindu and the other side was Muslim. The police went to the scene and took everyone to the police station for questioning. Then we found out that she was The woman was from the neighboring district of Azamgarh and she was also Muslim and that the man was marrying her. When we got more details, we contacted the woman’s family and handed her over to them. A missing persons report had been published about the woman filed earlier, “Vinod Kumar Singh, Kushinagar Police Chief, told the media.
Reports say the couple were allowed to leave the police station only on Wednesday morning. Police also issued a statement on Twitter on allegations that the man was assaulted inside the police station. “The accusation is false. Upon receipt of the complaint, the police took the accused to the police station, where the information about the missing girl in the Azamgarh district in question was reported and handed over to their families. It was not a violation of human rights there, ”police said.
When asked if this was not a flagrant misuse of the new law in the state against illegal conversion that is only applicable if a person is converting solely for the purpose of marriage, the district police chief claimed that it was not So. “It is not a misuse of the law. We received information that something bad was happening. But when we discovered that there was no criminal activity involved, we let everyone go. The woman was older and a missing person’s report was recorded,” he added . Kushinagar Police Chief Vinod Kumar Singh said in a statement.
Uttar Pradesh, which has a significant Muslim population, has been the first to leave the bloc with an ordinance or executive order, which says that religious conversions that use falsehood, force or an incentive, or that take place solely for marriage , will be declared a crime.
Those who plan to convert after marriage will have to give the district judge two months’ notice. The person who converts will have to show that he was not forced or by marriage. All cases will not be subject to bail.
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