This is an archive article published on October 2, 2024
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‘Love jihad to weaken the country’: UP court sentences Muslim man to life for marrying Hindu woman ‘on fake identity’
A Bareilly court declares the marriage held at a temple as null and void, observing that the convict had the sole intention of forcing the woman to convert to Islam.
In his order on Monday, the judge also observed that it was a case of “love jihad”, which he said was being carried out with the malicious intent of weakening the country “in the pattern of such cases in Bangladesh and Pakistan”.
Written by:Amit Sharma
2 min readMeerutOct 2, 2024 12:12 PM IST
First published on: Oct 2, 2024 at 12:12 PM IST
A court in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, has sentenced a 25-year-old man to life imprisonment and his father to a two-year term, along with a Rs 1 lakh fine, after finding them guilty of coercing a 20-year-old woman to embrace Islam and marrying her while adopting a Hindu identity.
This is the first verdict since the state government promulgated the Uttar Pradesh Unlawful Conversion of Religion (Amendment) Act in 2024. Fast-track court (one) Judge Ravi Kumar Diwakar, however, has not pronounced the accused guilty under the new law but sent copies of his verdict to the state police chief, chief secretary and the Bareilly senior superintendent of police with directives to book them as per its provisions.
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In his order on Monday, the judge also observed that it was a case of “love jihad”, which he said was being carried out with the malicious intent of weakening the country “in the pattern of such cases in Bangladesh and Pakistan”.
The judge also said the state government should take strict measures to check such incidents.
The judge declared the marriage held at a temple in Bareilly on March 13, 2022, as null and void, observing that its basis was deceit and that the convicts had the sole intention of forcing the woman to convert to a particular religion.
Digamber Patel, Additional District Government Counsel (Crime), said the FIR in the case was registered in May 2023 at the Devarnia police station in Bareilly on a complaint lodged by the woman accusing Mohammed Aalim Ahmed, his father Sabir Alam and six other family members of putting pressure on her to convert and also of forcing her to abort a foetus after the marriage.
The woman also alleged that before their marriage, Ahmed had raped her on several occasions at a hotel in Bareilly and used private photographs to blackmail her into having a physical relationship with him.
In his order on Monday, the judge also observed that it was a case of “love jihad”, which he said was being carried out with the malicious intent of weakening the country “in the pattern of such cases in Bangladesh and Pakistan”. 
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