LUCKNOW Activists of right wing group, Karni Sena, allegedly prevented an interfaith marriage in Ballia district of eastern UP and created a ruckus at a court before forcibly taking the couple to the police station, claiming forceful conversion. The cops registered a case of kidnapping against the groom and began investigations, said officials.
A video purportedly showing the commotion created by the Karni Sena activists surfaced online on Thursday in which the Dalit woman could be heard saying she was marrying the Muslim man willingly.
One Dilshad Ahmed, 23, along with a 19-year-old burqa-clad woman, reached the office of marriage registrar on the tehsil premises in Ballia on Thursday. Some Karni Sena members, who were present there, stopped the duo from entering the office of the registrar, alleging that the woman was being forced to embrace Islam to marry Dilshad.
The police intervened in the matter and the woman’s father was called. He alleged that Dilshad had kidnapped his daughter on Wednesday and also submitted a police complaint in this regard at Ubhaon police station, on the basis of which an FIR of kidnapping was lodged against Dilshad.
SP (Ballia) Vipin Tada said, “The woman has been handed over to the district women and child welfare committee and the man has been detained. The woman will be presented before a magistrate to record her statement on Friday and further action in the case will be taken on the basis of her statements.”
{{/usCountry}}SP (Ballia) Vipin Tada said, “The woman has been handed over to the district women and child welfare committee and the man has been detained. The woman will be presented before a magistrate to record her statement on Friday and further action in the case will be taken on the basis of her statements.”
{{/usCountry}}He said no ‘love jihad’ angle, as alleged by the Karni Sena activists, had come to fore so far. He did not respond to questions on the alleged ruckus created by the Karni Sena activists.
While Karni Sena members and the woman’s father alleged that she was kidnapped and forced to convert, Dilshad’s family members refuted this claim.
“Dilshad and the woman know each other for the last couple of years. They both wanted to marry, but their families were against it. The woman was forcefully married to a man in Shahjahanpur last year, but she returned home after a few months. I think Dilshad and the woman got married secretly and went to court to register their marriage,” informed Dilshad’s cousin Akram Ahmad.
“Now, some politically connected people have influenced the woman’s father and they are trying to make it look like a case of forceful conversion,” he added. Inputs from PTI