UP: Man arrested for forcing wife to convert after marriage
A Muslim man has been arrested in Gorakhpur for allegedly marrying a woman by hiding his identity and then trying to force her to undergo a religious conversion, police said on Monday. The accused, Mainuddin of Bhelapur village, met the woman last year and introduced himself as Munna Yadav, the police quoted the FIR. His cousin and accomplice Rehman Ali was arrested on Monday.
Mainuddin assaulted her for refusing to convert
According to the FIR, Mainuddin and the woman grew close and got married at a temple in Sant Kabir Nagar district. After some time, the accused disclosed his real name and religion and started pressuring the woman to convert and assaulted her for refusing. On Saturday, the woman came to know that Mainuddin was planning to get married again and informed police on 112.
Charges filed against the accused
"Main accused Mainuddin, aka Munna Yadav, was booked under Sections 323, 504, 506, 419 and 120B of the IPC and the provisions of the UP Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Ordinance, 2020, and arrested on Sunday," Station House Officer, Harpur Budhat, Devendra Kumar Singh said.
The controversial love jihad law
Notably, on 24 November 2020, the state Legislative Assembly passed the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Ordinance, 2020. The law has invited criticism from various quarters. The new law makes religious conversion a non-bailable offense and holds a penalty of up to 10 years in prison if one is found guilty of using marriage to force someone to change religion.
Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind challenged the ordinance
Islamic organization Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind had challenged the Constitutional validity of the Ordinance in the Supreme Court. The application said, "It is an attempt to regulate the personal decisions by encroaching upon an individual's choice to convert to a religion of his/her choice."
