The UP Police have arrested a 19-year-old Muslim youth from Bijnor district on Tuesday, 15 December, for allegedly eloping with a minor girl from a Scheduled Caste and to have allegedly tried to coerce her into conversion and marriage by concealing his identity.
The UP Police booked the youth under the recently passed UP Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020, commonly known as the love jihad law. The youth has been booked under Sections 363 (kidnapping), 366 (kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman to compel her marriage, etc) of the IPC, along with relevant sections of the SC/ST Act, the POCSO Act, reported The Indian Express.
The statement of the girl is yet to be recorded before a magistrate under Section 164 of CrPC reported The Indian Express. “The two are from different communities, and in such cases when they get caught, allegations are made that it was forceful. The statement of the girl in front of a magistrate under Section 164 CrPC is yet to be recorded and we will wait for that. All the information so far is based on the complaint by her family and her statement to police. The accused has been arrested, he was hiding his real name,” said SP Dharam Veer Singh to The Indian Express.
The couple eloped on Monday night. The 14-year old allegedly told the police that they were friends but she only found out he was a Muslim after they eloped, according to the Hindustan Times.
The accused allegedly told Hindustan Times that the couple were in a relationship for over a year. The girl was sent for medical examination and the accused has been arrested.
(With inputs from Hindustan Times and The Indian Express)
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