Madhya Pradesh's anti-conversion law sees 58% acquittals, seven convictions in five years
Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh’s stringent anti-religious conversion law, often referred to as the ‘anti-Love Jihad’ law, has recorded a significantly higher rate of acquittals than convictions in its first five and a half years of enforcement.
In a written reply to BJP MLA Ashish Govind Sharma, cited by The New Indian Express on Wednesday, the state government revealed that from January 1, 2020, to July 15, 2025, a total of 283 cases were registered under the MP Freedom of Religion Ordinance 2020 and its successor, the MP Freedom of Religion Act 2021.
Of these, 197 cases (about 70%) are still under trial in various courts, while 86 cases (30%) have either reached a verdict or are still under police investigation.
Among the 86 cases, 50 ended in acquittal, accounting for 58%, while only seven resulted in conviction.
Police sources, quoted by TNIE, attributed the low conviction rate to lack of evidence and witnesses turning hostile. In many cases, female complainants later testified that their relationships were consensual and voluntary, with no coercion or inducement involved.
“In many cases, during trial in the cases, the female victims stated before the court that they were in consensual relationship with the man of the other religion, they married men from other religion on their volition and were staying with them on their own, bereft of any fear, threat, pressure or enticement,” TNIE quoted its source as saying.
In some cases involving minors, families reportedly admitted that FIRs were filed under societal pressure, only to retract their statements later, dismantling the prosecution's case.
The MP Freedom of Religion Ordinance 2020 and its successor MP Freedom of Religion Act 2021 were promulgated to regulate religious conversions in the state. It aims to prohibit conversion through coercion, force, misrepresentation, undue influence, allurement, fraud, or marriage.
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Niqab incident: Nitish Kumar perhaps revealing his true colours, says J-K CM
Srinagar (PTI): Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday criticised his Bihar counterpart over the niqab incident and said that Nitish Kumar might be slowly revealing his true nature.
"Nitish Kumar, who was once considered a secular leader, may be slowly showing his true colours," Abdullah told reporters here on the sidelines of a function.
Abdullah said Kumar removing the face veil of a Muslim woman doctor was wrong and cannot be justified by any means.
"We have seen this kind of incident here several years ago. Have you forgotten how Mehbooba Mufti removed the burqa of a legitimate voter inside a polling station? That act was wrong, and this act (of Kumar) is also wrong.
"If the (Bihar) chief minister did not want to hand over the order to her (Muslim woman), they could have kept her aside. However, to humiliate her like this is totally wrong," the Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said.
Kumar stirred a huge controversy after he removed the face veil of a Muslim woman at a function earlier this week.
