A court in Uttar Pradesh sentenced a Muslim man to life imprisonment accusing him of ‘love jihad’ after he allegedly forced a Hindu woman to embrace Islam and married her under a Hindu identity.
Twenty-five-year-old Mohammed Aalim Ahmed was presented with life imprisonment by a fast-track court in Bareilly. The court also ordered Ahmed’s father Sabir Alam a two-year imprisonment. A fine of Rs 1 lakh has been imposed on the duo.
The verdict holds significance as it is the first of its kind under the Uttar Pradesh Unlawful Conversion of Religion (Amendment) Act in 2024. Under this Act, a person can be sentenced to 20 years or life imprisonment if found guilty of religious conversion taking place under threat, promise of marriage or conspiracy. The law contains stringent provisions with regard to fraudulent or forced conversions.
In May last year, the 20-year-old woman lodged a complaint stating she was coerced into marrying Mohammed Aalim Ahmed who had assumed a Hindu identity. She also alleged Ahmed raped her on many occasions and blackmailed her. Ahmed and his father Sabir Alam and other family members were accused of forcing her to convert to Islam, The Indian Express reported.
Although the fast track court Judge Ravi Kumar Diwakar did not pronounce Ahmed guilty under the anti-conversion law, the former passed copies of the verdict to the state police chief, chief secretary and the Bareilly senior superintendent of police, with directives to book Ahmed and his father as per the law’s provisions.
The judge further observed that it was a clear case of ‘love jihad’ and said such “malicious acts weaken the country in the pattern of such cases like Bangladesh and Pakistan.”
‘Love jihad’ is a conspiracy theory that accuses Muslim men of intentionally and strategically alluring and entrapping non-Muslim women with the intent to “convert them” to Islam and marry them as part of an “Islamisation project”.
Follow on Twitter | Posted by Veena Nair | 
