A 25-year-old man has been sentenced to life imprisonment by a fast-track court in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, for falsely claiming to be Hindu to marry a 20-year-old woman and coercing her to convert to Islam. The man's father has also received a two-year jail term, and asked to pay a fine of Rs 1 lakh.
The ruling comes months after the UP assembly passed amendments to the state's anti-conversion law to make its provisions more stringent, including increasing the maximum sentence to life imprisonment for forced or fraudulent conversions.
According to a report by The Indian Express, the woman said in her statement that she met the accused at a computer coaching institute they both attended, and he introduced himself to her as Anand Kumar. He reportedly used to wear a red thread on his right hand. She said they developed feelings for each other and later entered into a relationship.
Last year, she added, he took her to a hotel in Bareilly, where he coerced her into being intimate with him and recorded the act on his phone. Afterwards, he took her to a temple, applied sindoor on her forehead, and they got married, she said in her statement.
A few days later, when he took her to his home in a village near Bareilly, she discovered his true religious identity and that his real name was Mohammed Aalim Ahmed. Despite this revelation, she was willing to stay with him, but his family pressured her to convert to Islam before having a legal marriage according to their traditions, which she refused, she said.
Digamber Patel, the Additional District Government Counsel (Crime), said the woman filed a complaint at a Bareilly police station in May 2023, accusing Mohammed Aalim Ahmed, his father Sabir Alam, and six other family members of coercing her to convert. She also alleged that she was forced to undergo an abortion after marriage.
Judge Labels Case 'Love Jihad'
Fast-track court judge Ravi Kumar Diwakar sent copies of the verdict to the state police chief, chief secretary, and senior superintendent of police (SSP), Bareilly, directing that the accused be charged under the provisions of the amended anti-conversion law.
The judge labelled the case an instance of "love jihad", and said such incidents were being carried out with the "malicious intent of weakening the country". The judge sought to compare it to similar cases in Bangladesh and Pakistan, and urged the government of Uttar Pradesh to take strict action to prevent such occurrences.
The judge declared the marriage "null and void", noting that it was based on deceit and carried out with the sole intention of forcing the woman to convert.