Forced conversion charges dropped against Haridwar man: UP govt tells HC

PRAYAGRAJ/MEERUT: The Uttar Pradesh government told the Allahabad high court on Thursday that the state police had dropped charges of forced conversion against a Muslim man, who was among the first people booked under the state’s anti-conversion law. The charges against the man from Haridwar in Uttarakhand were dropped after the police found no proof of allegations, the government said.

Police lodged a First Information Report (FIR) against Nadeem and his brother Salman under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance 2020 on November 29 on a complaint by Muzaffarnagar resident Akshay Kumar, who alleged that Nadeem lured his wife to convert her to Islam and also threatened her.

The high court restrained the state police from taking coercive action against Nadeem on December 18, and tagged his plea to petitions challenging the consti

tutional validity of the ordinance, colloquially known as the “love jihad” law in reference to a term used by right wingers to describe relationships between Muslim men and Hindu women.

The state government affidavit said the police investigation did not produce any evidence that Nadeem had “any illicit relation with the woman” or that he was trying to convert her religion.

“The investigating officer has recorded the statement of victim, who in her statement informed that she is only known to Nadeem, but having no relation,” the affidavit, a copy of which is with HT, read. But the police found evidence from call records that Nadeem threatened Kumar, the 13-page document added.

The HC bench comprising chief justice Govind Mathur and justice SS Shamshery, fixed January 15 as the next date of hearing in the case.

Muzaffarnagar police also confirmed that charges of forced conversion were found false.

“No evidence of forced conversion was found, therefore, Section 3/5 of the new law (UP Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance 2020) has been dropped in the case,” said K P Singh, the station house officer of Mansoorpur police station. Section 3 of the ordinance prohibits a person from converting the religion of another person by marriage. Section 5 outlaws conversion by any allurement or presents.

Police said the case against Nadeem and Salman now was under sections 504 (insult intended to provoke breach of peace) and section 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code and both were bailable.