In the second case to be registered under the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Ordinance (2020), a Muslim man was booked under the contentious anti-love jihad law in Bhopal on Wednesday, 20 January, after a woman accused him of hiding his religious identity during the course of their relationship and forcing her to convert to islam.
The case has been registered in the capital’s Ashoka Garden, and the accused is currently in police custody.
In an interview, Assistant Superintendent of Police Rajesh Singh Bhadauria informed that a man named Asad befriended a girl by introducing himself as ‘Ashu’ in 2019.
He further said that when the girl came to know about the man’s identity during a trip to Raisen several months later, the accused pestered her for religious conversion. He even allegedly attacked her.
Hindu right-wing organisations since then have demanded strict action against the youth. He has been booked under section 3 (forcible conversion) of the anti-love jihad law and Section 376 (rape) of Indian Penal Code.
Madhya Pradesh Police on Monday had filed their first case under the new ‘anti-love jihad’ law. NDTV reported that the case was registered after a 22-year-old girl from Barwani district accused a 25-year-old married man of physically assaulting her, over her refusal to marry him and convert to Islam.
The Times of India reported that the accused, Sohail Mansuri alias Sunny, was booked under Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Ordinance 2020 and IPC sections 376, 506 (criminal intimidation), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 294 (obscene act)
(With inputs from NDTV and Times of India)
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