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Uttarakhand Police book interfaith couple, cleric for conversion
The couple moved the high court seeking police protection after getting married in September. The court heard the matter and said the state counsel pointed out the marriage was in violation of the law
Police in Dehradun have booked a Muslim man, his Hindu wife, a relative, and a cleric under the Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion Act on the high court’s directions. The man’s uncle and a cleric are accused of helping the woman convert to Islam to marry the man without permission of the district authorities under the law that was passed in 2018. The law mandates a one-month notice in advance for interfaith marriages.
The police booked the four on Tuesday following a probe into the matter as per the court orders. No arrest has been made so far in the case.
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Anuj Kumar, the investigating officer, said he was ordered to investigate the matter about two weeks back. He said they found the couple first met during tuition classes in Rudraprayag district and later decided to get married in Dehradun. “...[the man] took her [the woman] to a cleric Mufti Salim Qazi for it in September. The Qazi, before carrying the Nikah [marriage] converted...[the woman] without any documents and gave her a Muslim name... [The couple] got married later with the help of his uncle, the another accused...,” said Kumar.
Kumar said they found neither the couple nor the cleric informed the district magistrate one month prior to the inter-religious marriage with conversion as per the law.
“Not only it was a violation of the Act, but the matter also seemed to be suspicious. Hence the four were booked under sections 3,8 and 12 of the Act which prohibits conversion from one religion to another religion by misrepresentation, force, fraud, undue influence, coercion, allurement, or marriage...”
The couple moved the high court seeking police protection after getting married in September. The court heard the matter on October 1 and said the state counsel has pointed out the marriage was in violation of the law. “...prior to such conversion, an application has to be moved before the concerned District Magistrate, which has presently not been done.” The court directed police to provide necessary protection to the couple and ordered an inquiry into the matter. “...in the State of Uttarakhand, there is an Act known as Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion Act, 2018, under which it is the duty of the concerned Priest under sub-section (2) of Section 8 of the Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion Act, 2018 to give prior intimation to the concerned District Magistrate, before this conversion or the marriage. Evidently this has not been done.”
The court on December 17 cited the inquiry and added it has been apprised that there has “been a violation of the provisions of the Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion Act”. It will hear the matter next on January 11.
Inter-religious marriages have been in the news as other Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states like Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have enacted similar legislation to regulate them.
