Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court has refused to quash an FIR lodged against the vice-chancellor and other higher officials of the Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture Technology and Science (SHUATS), who were accused of persuading a woman to adopt Christianity by offering her a job and other allurements.
Disposing of a writ petition filed by SHUATS V-C Rajendra Bihari Lal, director Vinod Bihari Lal and four others, a division bench of Justice Rahul Chaturvedi and Justice Mohd Azhar Husain Idrisi said: “No God or true church or temple or mosque would approve such types of malpractices. If someone has chosen to get himself converted to a different religion, then it is totally another aspect of the issue. In the instant case prevailing upon the tender mind of a young girl providing gifts, clothing and other physical amenities and then asking her to get her baptised is an unpardonable sin.”
In an FIR dated November 4, 2023 lodged under section 376D (gang rape) and other IPC sections, and relevant sections of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021 and Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, 1956 in Hamirpur’s Bewar, the woman alleged that she belonged to a lower middle-class family and was trapped by another woman who took her regularly to a church.
In the FIR, she also alleged that she was regularly subjected to sexual exploitation by the accused-petitioners including RB Lal, the accused petitioner no 1, who is the V-C of SHUATS, and she was pressurised to bring other women for conversion and other illegal works.
The plea taken by the counsel of the petitioners was that the victim was offered a job at SHUATS. When she was sacked from her service in 2022, she tailored a story as mentioned in the FIR, just to rope in all the higher officials of SHUATS, including the vice-chancellor.
While refusing to quash the FIR, the court said the allegations levelled in the FIR were extremely serious and horrifying, as the accused-petitioners exploited her financial position and allured her to change sides and succeeded and thereafter prevailed upon her.
Also, the court directed the superintendent of police (SP) of Hamirpur to personally supervise the investigation being done by three senior police officers of circle officer rank into the issue and submit a report before the concerned magistrate with 90 days.
While emphasising that the petitioners were accused of a heinous offence, the court, in its decision dated December 11, directed that the accused should surrender before the court on or before December 20, 2023 and apply for regular bail.
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