Three held under anti-conversion law for allegedly circumcising two boys

LUCKNOW: Three people were arrested for holding a circumcision ceremony for two minor sons of a widow in Rampur district of western Uttar Pradesh on Sunday, police officials said on Monday. Police are on the lookout for two other accused in the case. The accused were booked under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion law.

According to the police, one Mahfooz, 36, a truck driver and resident of the Shahbad area of Rampur, was living with a widow and her two sons at his home in Rampur.

“Mahfooz arranged a circumcision ceremony for the boys, aged 12 and 10 years, at his home on Sunday. We took action when (we) came to know that the ceremony was being held without informing the local administration,” said Rampur superintendent of police Shagun Gautam.

Under the anti-conversion law, an advance declaration of proposed religious conversion is required to be submitted to the office of the district magistrate. The district magistrate then conducts a police inquiry into the matter to ascertain the intention, purpose and the cause of the proposed conversion. The minor boys’ mother, who is a resident of adjoining Uttarakhand, informed the police that she was living with Mahfooz after her truck driver husband was killed in a road accident last month.

“The mother alleged that she converted to Islam and married Mahfooz.

A month into the marriage, Mahfooz began forcing her to convert her sons too and arranged the ceremony for the same,” said Rampur assistant superintendent of police (ASP) Sansar Singh.

Reportedly, some local members of the Hindu Jagran Manch (HJM) informed the police about the ceremony and accompanied them to the house of Mahfooz. Police arrested the barber who performed the circumcision and Mahfooz’s parents, while Mahfooz and the cleric managed to flee from the spot. The police team admitted the boys to hospital.

Considering that the boys are minors, the FIR was lodged on the complaint of the police against Mahfooz, his parents, a local cleric and barber. The accused were booked under Indian Penal Code Section 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), along with provisions of the Prohibition of the Unlawful Conversion of Religion law.