In a shocking case, the Uttar Pradesh police have discovered that ‘Love Jihad’ charges leveled against three men in the state are not genuine.
“During our investigation, we found that the accused were not present at the spot on that day when the alleged incident took place. As per the evidence collected by the police, the allegations levelled against the three men by the woman were wrong. However, police are looking into other allegations against Abrar and two others including that of stalking,” Senior Superintendent of Police (Bareilly) Rohit Singh Sajwan told the Indian Express.
The three Muslim men were booked under sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code and the new Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion law on a complaint filed by a 24-year-old Hindu woman. The Police said that they found the allegations raised by the woman to be false. However, the investigation in the case is still on with no arrests yet.
The complaint was filed on January 1 by the woman who alleged that on December 1, before she got married, Abrar had stopped her at a crossing in Fareedpur area while she was returning home on her scooty and molested her while trying to pull her down from the two-wheeler. She had also alleged that Abrar was forcing her to marry him after converting her into Islam, and when the residents of the area intervened, he escaped with the help of two others.
Police then lodged an FIR against Abrar who is a taxi driver, his brother Maisur and friend Israr. The woman also placed on record that she took a month’s time to approach the police as Abrar had threatened her. But during the police’s preliminary inquiry, they found that the three accused men were not in the Fareedpur area on December 1.
According to the Indian Express, during investigations, the Police also found out that the woman had gone “missing” last year in September which compelled her guardian to register an FIR against Abrar under charges of kidnapping. However, two weeks later, the woman returned home and told the police that she had gone to Delhi on her own free will and resided with Abrar in the National Capital for 15 days. After her statement was recorded by the Police, no coercive action was taken against Abrar Khan.
The woman is now married to a Hindu man which was solemnised on December 11 by her maternal uncle and it was revealed to the Police that Abrar had also been to the woman’s in-laws’ house. Although no prima facie evidence has been found in the case, investigations against the three men are to continue as recorded by the Station House Officer (Fareedpur) Surendra Singh Pachauri.
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