A Muslim teenager from Uttar Pradesh was arrested under the new anti-conversion law that targets inter-faith marriages, on 15 December after he was found walking with a Dalit Hindu girl in Uttar Pradesh’s Bijnor.
The boy and his 16-year-old female friend who were walking home from a friend's birthday party were allegedly ambushed, harassed and taken to a police station.
The boy was arrested based on a complaint reportedly by the father of the girl who allegedly claimed that the boy had used a false Hindu identity to lure the girl. A case of ‘love-jihad,’ the controversial new anti-conversion law, has been filed against the boy.
The boy, a Muslim, has been accused of trying to forcibly convert a 16-year-old Hindu girl. Despite the girl and her mother denying the claims, the boy was in custody for over a week, reported NDTV.
The girl said in an interview to NDTV that he was just a friend and her mother clarified that he was only accompanying the girl home.
"A girl had been missing for a few days, she has been found and a case filed. The boy had given a Hindu name, Sonu, and had coaxed her to run away for the purpose of converting. She somehow managed to escape. The accused has been arrested," Sanjay Kumar, a senior police officer in Bijnor told NDTV.
Following rumours that it was a false case, the Bijnor police put out a tweet justifying the case was filed based on a complaint by the father of the girl. However, the girl’s father has alleged that the police had dictated the statement to him, reported Scroll.
The boy has been charged under sections of the SC/ST Act, and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, and is currently lodged in a jail in Bijnor, stated the media report.
(With inputs from NDTV, Scroll)
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