Bengaluru: Karnataka Police has registered the first case under the recently enacted anti-conversion law and arrested a Muslim man for allegedly converting an 18-yr-old Hindu girl from Uttar Pradesh on the promise of marriage. The accused identified as Syed Mueen has been arrested by Yeshavantapur police.
The girl's family originally hails from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh and shifted to BK Naga, Yeshavantapur 15 years ago. The girl's father works as a painter and her mother is a housewife. The couple has two more daughters and a brother. The parents had warned the daughter six months ago on the suspicion that she was in love with a young man of a different religion.
On October 5, the young woman who had gone to the shop did not return home after which the family filed a missing report at the Yeshavantapur police station. However, after a week, the young woman arrived at the police station wearing a burqa. Alarmed by their daughter's behavior, the parents filed another complaint against Syed Mueen at the Yeshavantapur police station, alleging that he had converted her by promising marriage.
Also read: Anti-conversion bill comes into effect in Karnataka
They said their daughter was “illegally converted in a mosque”. A case under the Conversion Act has been registered at the Yeshavantapur police station. This is the first case to be registered under the recently invoked anti-conversion law. Anti conversion bill has been officially implemented in Karnataka after Governor Thavar Chanda Gehlot gave a nod to the bill on Wednesday.
The state government has issued a state Gazette notification in this regard. The 'Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Bill' was passed by the Legislative Assembly in December last year. As the Bill was pending passage in the Legislative Council, where the ruling BJP was short of a majority then, the government subsequently promulgated an ordinance in May this year to give effect to the bill.
Home Minister Araga Jnanendra piloted the Bill for the consideration of the Upper House recently. According to the Prohibition of Conversion Act, many rules have been imposed for the process of conversion, a person converting has to first apply to District Collector after which the District Collector takes the opinion of the parents and close relatives of the person and gives a deadline of 30 days after which proper permission is granted.
In any pressure surfaces, FIR will be registered and legal action will be taken against the accused.
