The woman’s father alleged that she kidnapped by a Muslim man and his relatives.
Etah:
Six people, all Muslim, have been arrested in Uttar Pradesh and the police are looking for five more in a fresh case involving the state’s new “unlawful conversion” law that has been criticised by many, including former judges, who have called the law unconstitutional and against fundamental rights.
In a statement, the police in Etah district, 330 km from state capital Lucknow, said that the father of a 21-year-old Hindu woman had filed a First Information Report (FIR) with police in the district’s Jalesar town on December 17, alleging that his daughter had been kidnapped by a Muslim man and his relatives for the purpose of conversion and marriage. In the statement, the cops said the woman went “missing” a month ago on November 17 when she had gone to a local market.
The police say a missing persons report was lodged by the father on November 25 at the concerned police station.
“In the matter involving the kidnapping and forceful conversion of a girl in Jalesar, three more accused have been arrested. So far, half a dozen people have been sent to jail. A reward of Rs. 25,000 has been announced on the arrest of five missing accused,” the police in Etah tweeted in Hindi on Monday.
But the police have not explained what led to the month- long gap between the missing persons report and the FIR under the “unlawful conversion” law.
The police said they have announced a Rs. 25,000 award on the five accused who have not been arrested in the case yet. The Hindu woman and the Muslim man have not been traced yet. All those arrested are known to each other, police sources said.
On Saturday, a Muslim man and his brother, arrested and jailed under the new law, were freed after spending nearly two weeks in prison in western UP’s Moradabad district. UP Police was unable to find any evidence of forced conversion against them, said sources.
The man was arrested along with his brother earlier this month after he tried to get his marriage registered with a 22-year-old Hindu woman in Moradabad’s Kanth area, about 350 km from Lucknow. The couple was heckled by a right-wing group, the Bajrang Dal, and the pregnant woman was taken to a shelter after the men were arrested; the government has denied her claims that she was given an injection “to induce miscarriage”.
