Amroha (UP): In the first case of conviction under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021, a court in Amroha has served a five-year jail term to a 26-year-old carpenter. Amroha Additional District Judge (POCSO court) Kapila Raghav on Saturday announced a jail term of five years for Afzal and imposed a penalty of Rs 40,000.
Additional Director General of Police, Prosecution, Ashutosh Pandey, confirmed that since the introduction of the new law in December 2021, the conviction by the Amroha court was the first under the new law. Afzal, a native of UP's Sambhal, was taken into custody from Delhi after the court held him guilty. He was booked under the state’s anti-conversion law for abducting a 16-year-old girl belonging to another community in April last year. The girl was later traced on the basis of information revealed by the accused, Afzal, after his arrest.
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“Afzal had introduced himself to the girl as ‘Arman Kohli’. His real identity came to light later,” said special counsel, Amroha, Basant Singh Saini. According to the information, In March 2021, the accused reached the nursery owned by the victim's father located on Hasanpur-Gajraula road of the district posing as a driver. He introduced himself as ‘Arman Kohli’ to the nursery owner's daughter and befriended her and started talking to her over the phone.
On April 2, 2021, Afzal kidnapped the girl and took her to Delhi with an intention of marrying her, but ahead of marriage, the girl sensed something fishy and refused his overtures while the accused molested her and threatened to kill her. Meanwhile, the girl’s father approached the local police stating that his daughter left home two days ago and did not return. He told the police that two local residents claimed to have seen his daughter with a man. Later, the police found them in the Osmanpur police station area of New Delhi.
