The first charge sheet under Uttar Pradesh’s anti-conversion 'love jihad' laws has been filed against a 22-year-old carpenter in Bijnor, for allegedly kidnapping a Dalit woman last month, as per a report by The Indian Express.
The accused, Afzal, has also been charged with rape on the basis of the woman’s statement, the report said.
Last month, on 6 December, the woman reportedly went missing from Bijnor where she had gone to attend a relative’s wedding. On 8 December, the woman’s father lodged an FIR against Afzal on abduction charges, as she was last seen with him.
The officer investigating the incident said that Afzal would visit the woman at her house under the guise of a false identity and they had become friends initially.
The report quoted the investigating officer as saying: “The victim claimed the accused sexually assaulted her and she came to know about his real identity when she went with him. He told her his real name and said he would marry her after conversion.”
Since the Yogi Adityanath government approved the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020, several interfaith couples have had to bear the brunt of the police.
(With inputs from The Indian Express)
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