5 arrested in UP’s Bijnor town over conversion of Hindu man before marriage

Jaswant Singh, father of the man, Mukul, 24, lodged the First Information Report (FIR) at the Keeratpur Police Station in Bijnor Sunday morning claiming that his son was forced to convert by the woman, Shayma, 21, and her parents before the wedding and his son’s name, too, was changed.

Activists of Hindu outfits accompanied Singh to the police station for lodging of the FIR, and staged a demonstration to put pressure on the police to arrest all those responsible for the forcible conversion of a Hindu man.

“Based on the FIR under Section 3 of the anti-conversion law, we have arrested the two maulvis Qari Irshad and Gufran, the parents Mohammed Shahid and Rukhsana Begum, and the woman Shayma. They were produced in the local court and sent to the district jail. Mukul Singh was let off after interrogation,” said Rakesh Kumar, Station House Officer (SHO), Keeratpur Police Station.

The police said that the jailed cleric asked for Mukul’s Aadhaar card while performing the marriage but he refused to give it to him. ‘When one of the maulvis came to know that the man belonged to the other religion, he fled from the madrasa apprehending police action,” said Kumar.

The police said Mukul, who works at a medical store in Dhampur town, fell in love with Shayma, and that she later told her parents that she wanted to marry him.

”The parents initially refused as the man did not belong to their religion but later allowed her with the condition that he should embrace Islam if he were serious about marrying their daughter. Mukul agreed to convert and was named Mahir Ansari. Their marriage was held at a local madrasa in Dhampur Saturday evening,” said Dharam Singh Marchal, Superintendent of Police, Bijnor East.