Court orders release of 2 brothers held under anti-conversion law
Moradabad (UP), Dec 19: An Uttar Pradesh court has ordered the release of two brothers who were arrested earlier this month under the anti-conversion law, an official said on Saturday.
The Muslim man and his brother were arrested on December 4 after they visited the registrar's office in Moradabad to record his marriage to a Hindu woman, whose family filed a complaint.
A video purportedly showed Bajrang Dal activists asking the couple if the woman had given notice to the district magistrate over her intention to change her religion, a requirement under the new ordinance.
The Kanth police had submitted a report that it could not find evidence of the case after Pinki denied the allegations of forceful conversion by Rashid and his brother Salim, following which the chief judicial magistrate ordered the release of the two from jail, prosecuting officer Amar Tiwari said.
The jailor of the district jail, Manish, said they had received the releasing order and the two would be be released later in the day.
Meanwhile, the mother-in-law alleged that Pinki suffered miscarriage after she was tortured at the government shelter home.
The recently-promulgated Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance nullifies marriages if they are carried out for the sole purpose of religious conversion. The state government had on November 24 approved the draft ordinance, which provides for a jail term of up to 10 years for violators.
It was promulgated amid assertions by BJP leaders that a strict law was needed against "love jihad", a term coined by right-wing activists to discredit interfaith marriages by describing it as part of an alleged conspiracy by Muslim men to convert Hindu women in the guise of love.
The Allahabad High Court had asked the state government on Friday to respond to a petition challenging the ordinance.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
SIT initiates probe to identify persons who 'forced' woman to lodge complaint in sexual abuse case
Bengaluru (PTI): The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the alleged multiple instances of sexual abuse by Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna has initiated an inquiry to identify those who allegedly called a woman and "forced" her to register a "fake complaint" against the JD(S) leader, sources said on Friday.
The move comes after the National Commission for Women (NCW) said that one woman complainant who reached out to it claimed she was forced to register a fake complaint against the 33-year-old, who is the Lok Sabha poll candidate for Hassan and the grandson of JD(S) patriarch and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda.
Sources said the investigating team headed by Additional Director General of Police B K Singh got to know about the woman only after NCW forwarded the complaint to SIT.
A senior official who is a part of the investigation team said that no one from SIT has contacted her before and she has not filed any complaint with them in this regard.
“SIT has initiated an inquiry into this matter to identify the persons who made phone calls to the woman and accordingly necessary legal action will be taken against such persons,” a source said.
According to the NCW, the woman complainant came to the commission to register a complaint against three individuals, allegedly introducing themselves as Karnataka Police officials and forcing her to allegedly give a false complaint in this case.
“She stated that she is being called by random phone numbers threatening her (telling her to lodge) a complaint. It has come to light that this complainant was forced by a group of individuals to file a complaint, under the threat of potential harassment and false implications. The victim has sought protection for her family’s welfare, underscoring the seriousness of the situation,” the NCW stated.
