Bareilly (Uttar Pradesh):The family of the first youth to be arrested under Uttar Pradesh's new anti-conversion law, has alleged that the youth's father was forced by the police to sign a statement denying any use of force and harassment by the investigators.
Police also recorded a video of the father, Mohammad Rafeeq, 71, in which he was told to repeat the written statement in front of three witnesses.
The move apparently came after news reports claimed that Rafeeq alleged that he was beaten and threatened by policemen.
Police, however, admitted that Rafeeq was detained for some time as they feared for his safety since he had been beaten by locals, last year, when the girl had gone missing.
DIG of Bareilly range, Rajesh Pandey, said, "The father was beaten by villagers when the girl had eloped last year.
"We did not want any such situation to recur so he remained at a safe place under police observation. We had information through our intelligence teams and our priority was to maintain law and order as people of both the communities live in the village," he said.