A 20-year-old Muslim man, who was allegedly walking home with a Hindu girl after attending a birthday party, was accused of 'Love jihad' (Muslim youths marrying Hindu girls under false pretences for religious conversion) and arrested under the new 'anti-conversion' law in Uttar Pradesh's Bijnore district, about 400 kilometres from Lucknow.
The 'pradhan' (panchayat chief) of the village said that the youth and girl knew each other and they were returning home after attending a birthday party, when they were intercepted by some locals, who thought the youth was a thief and called the police.
The girl was allowed to go home but the cops arrested the youth, identified as Sonu alias Saquib, he said.
The police said that the father of the girl had lodged a complaint with them accusing the youth, a resident of Berkheda village in the district, of trying to 'lure' the girl through conversion and convince her to elope with him.
Police claimed that the youth was arrested after the father of the girl lodged an FIR alleging that the youth had taken the girl away and was trying to get her to convert. The 16-year-old girl and her mother denied the 'Love jihad' allegation.
Several cases of alleged 'Love jihad' were reported from different parts in UP since the new law came into effect.
At least two cases of 'Love jihad' failed to pass the initial legal test in the state. In one of the cases, the court-ordered release of two arrested Muslim youths after the police failed to produce any evidence against them and in another, the court stayed the arrest of a Muslim man, who had been booked under the new law.
The new law provided for a maximum imprisonment of ten years and also a fine for religious conversion through deceit, force, allurement or any other fraudulent means or for the purpose of marriage.