Hindutva group tries to evoke ‘love jihad’ bogey in Kasganj case

Uttar Pradesh
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Uttar Pradesh Police have reportedly dropped the kidnapping charge they had registed against Altaf, the young Muslim man who eventualy died in their custody in a Kasganj police station earlier this month. Last week, police recovered the girl who Altaf had been accused of kidnapping. The police have revealed that the woman is not a minor, but a 19 year old. She has reportedly recorded her statement before a magistrate on Monday and claimed that Altaf had promised to marry her.

According to a report in The Hindu, the woman said Altaf had asked her to move to Agra with his ‘friend’ and that he would join them later. Hence the police claim of investigating the case of kidnapping of a minor stands exposed.

However, Kasganj SP Rohan Botre told the media that the police hadn’t received the copy of her statement recorded under section 164 CrPc. But he could confirm that the two were in a relationship. “The girl was recovered on Friday [last week] from the Kasganj railway station where it seems she was dropped by Rinku, the unidentified man in the kidnapping FIR,” the SP was quoted as saying, and that a search was on to nab Rinku who worked at the railway station.

Meanwhile, some media reports have begun to suggest that the woman had alleged that she was being forced to convert. SP Botre told The Hindu that he had also heard such “stories from sources” but could not confirm. This theory has also been floated by one Bhupesh Sharma who is identified in media reports as the ‘National President of Akhand Aryavart Nirman Sangh’. He claimed that this is a case of so-called ‘love jihad’. He told the media that he had “videos” to back his claim and allegations.

The FIR still does not name the five suspended police officials yet, and according to the SP, Altaf’s family had given multiple versions of the complaint, and media should wait for the investigation. He said, “A magisterial and departmental inquiry is on against the suspended officials and we are asking for a judicial inquiry as well.” He, according to the news report, continued to say that Altaf died by hanging himself from the water pipe, “According to the post-mortem report, it was a death by suicide. We know of cases where a person attempted to hang himself in a squat position”. Many questions were raised over UP Police’s lock up suicide theory in Altaf’s custodial death.

The National Commission for Minorities (NCMC) has already sought a report from UP Chief Secy, and DGP on Altaf’s custodial death. The NCMC chairman Sardar Iqbal Singh Lalpura told the media, “We have asked for a report from the Uttar Pradesh government-from Chief Secretary and Director General of Police. Once we get the report, we will visit the place and see that no injustice is done to anyone on the basis of his caste and religion.”