A woman from Uttar Pradesh on Monday returned home to her husband’s family following two days of stay at a shelter home in Moradabad district after the police stopped her and the Muslim man from registering their marriage under the new anti-religious conversion law, reported The Indian Express.
The Muslim man and his brother were arrested on Saturday and charged under the new law that targets “love jihad”, a conspiracy theory used by Hindutva groups who accuse Muslim men of using marriage as a lure to force Hindu women to convert to Islam.
“The girl in her statement before the magistrate said that she was born in 1998 and that she and Rashid held a nikah on July 24 in Dehradun,” Additional Superintendent of Police, Moradabad, Vidya Sagar Mishra, told the newspaper. The woman, identified as Pinki (22), said she had converted her religion but wanted to return to the man, Rashid Ali’s, family.
Mishra added that her statement in court said she had willingly married Ali. “She can go live with in-laws or parents now,” the police officer added, according to The Times of India. “We will ensure she gets the security she needs.” The woman is three months pregnant.
The Moradabad superintendent of police also noted that they had received the marriage certificate of the couple that confirmed they were married before the new anti-religious conversion law was implemented. “We are trying to verify the documents and may file a closure report,” he added.
Rashid and his brother, Saleem, remain in prison under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religious Ordinance, 2020. They were arrested on the basis of a complaint from the woman’s mother. The police said they will seek legal opinion on the woman’s statements, including the fact that she was an adult when the wedding occurred.
“All details, including Pinki’s claim of nikah and conversion, would be verified,” Senior Superintendent of Police in Moradabad Prabhakar Chaudhary told The Indian Express. “Documents related to the claim would be checked. The police will also get a statement of the girl’s family members and others.”
The Moradabad district administration in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday denied reports claiming that the 22-year-old Hindu woman had suffered a miscarriage. Her mother-in-law had alleged that an injection was administered to her to abort the baby.
However, authorities dismissed the charges and said that the woman was admitted to the district hospital on December 11 after she complained of stomach ache and was discharged on December 13. Child Protection Commission chairperson Vishesh Gupta also denied all reports of the woman having a miscarriage.
Acting Chief Medical Superintendent of Moradabad Mahila District Hospital Dr Nirmala Pathak told The Indian Express that the foetus could be clearly seen in an ultrasound report, and was examined. “We have decided to go in for a Transvaginal Ultrasound Scan to get a more accurate condition of the foetus,” she added.
The couple were arrested after members of the right-wing group Bajrang Dal, who reached the marriage registration office and accosted the couple, handed them over to the police.
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