Allahabad High Court grants bail to Muslim man accused of kidnapping, raping Hindu girl

Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court has granted bail to a Muslim man accused of kidnapping and raping a Hindu girl.

Granting bail to accused Javed Alam, Justice Sameer Jain said that in her statement, the girl stated that she had crossed the age of 17 when the FIR was lodged and that she went with him and married him willingly.

During the course of hearing, the counsel appearing for the girl said she did not have any objection if the applicant was released on bail.

The two had a dispute during a train journey and a Bajrang Dal member lodged a police complaint against Alam, alleging that he kidnapped the girl, a student of class 10.

According to the complaint, Alam also made the girl change her religion.

The FIR in the case was lodged under sections 363 (kidnapping), 366 (kidnapping to compel marriage), 506 (criminal intimidation), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The accused was also booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021.