Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday said that the state government is not against interfaith marriages but it cannot deny that cases of “love jihad” are a reality and the government is ready to frame a special Act, if needed. "After the Shraddha Walkar case, protests have been held across districts demanding a law against love jihad. I want to clarify that government is not against interfaith marriages. But it is observed that in some districts, as a part of a larger design, such types of marriages are taking place and within a year or more, the woman faces atrocities," Fadnavis said. "Therefore, some states have even enacted laws on love jihad. This love jihad name has been given by Kerala Police. This is not against any person or religion. But we will have to accept that such cases are taking place," he added. Fadnavis was replying to the discussion on calling attention motion on Vasai resident Shraddha Walkar's murder by her live-in partner Aaftab Poonawala in Delhi. “We are studying laws made by various states on this issue and if needed, we are prepared to bring one such Act in Maharashtra. Our position is to ensure that no woman faces atrocities,” he said. Fadnavis added that the government setting up a special committee to handle issues related to interfaith marriages was aimed at solving similar problems faced by women. Earlier, BJP MLA Atul Bhatkhalkar had alleged that there was possible political interference, as the police did not act when Shraddha filed a case of domestic abuse against Aaftab in Vasai. “As of now, we have found no political or outsider interference on the police. However, she withdrew her complaint to the police after a month and we are probing why she did that?” said Fadnavis. Maintaining that Shraddhar's complaint had clearly mentioned that she was beaten by Aftab, BJP MLA Ashish Shelar said a special committee needs to probe police inaction. To this, Fadnavis said. “It is true that she withdrew her complaint. But it was after one month of filing it. A special committee will probe why no action was taken in that one month.”
