Unusual scenes were observed at a Court in Aligarh on Saturday after a case of Grooming Jihad made its way to the Court premises. The trouble began when a man came to register his marriage with a woman from a different faith at a Court in Aligarh. He was apparently thrashed by unidentified individuals and a case has been registered in the matter.
The man has been identified as one Sonu Malik. Following the incident inside the Aligarh Court premises, dramatic scenes were also observed outside. The woman could be heard saying that she is not a minor and has immense love for Sonu. The Police decided that they have had enough when she said ‘Meri jaan hai woh’ (He is my life) following which she was guided into a vehicle and the footage stops at that point.
अलीगढ़: हिंदू युवती को लेकर शादी करने कोर्ट पहुंचा था मुस्लिम युवक, कोर्ट परिसर में जमकर हुआ हंगामा…#LoveJihaad #लवजिहाद #UttarPradesh pic.twitter.com/2N54Id1N4s
— News24 (@news24tvchannel) December 5, 2020
The man was equally dramatic. He said, “Mere pyar ko rok liya, humein bahut maara court me,” (“They have stopped my love, they thrashed me a lot in Court”), Sonu Malik could be heard saying as he was being dragged by the Police. He kept saying “Mere pyar ko rok liya” but the Police did not appear particularly bothered by such profound declaration of affection.
Later, however, the woman revealed that Sonu had introduced himself as a Hindu but it was only later that she discovered he was a Muslim. She came to know him through Facebook and she travelled with him from Chandigarh three days earlier. She appeared calm and composed while talking to the media after the initial spell of distraught.
“पहले लड़के ने मुझे अपना नाम “Sonu” बताया था, मुझे बाद में पता चला वो दूसरे धर्म का है” #Aligarh #लव_जिहाद pic.twitter.com/v9iE4ljOSE
— News24 (@news24tvchannel) December 5, 2020
The woman further revealed that the man had emotionally blackmailed her saying that he will drink poison if she did not meet him and could not live without her. Shalabh Mani Tripathi, press adviser to Yogi Adityanath, revealed that it was the girl’s family who had provided some ‘service’ to the man inside the court, hinting that it was them who thrashed him.
Tripathi also revealed that it was at the Aligarh Court that it was discovered that Sonu is actually a Muslim and his name is Mohammed Sonu. The girl’s family reached the spot after being alerted by the lawyers. Tripathi also said that the new law against ‘Love Jihad’ was working well.
हिंदू लड़की को अपना नाम सोनू बता कर जाल में फँसाया,शादी करने कोर्ट पहुँचा तो पता चला कि असली नाम तो मुहम्मद सोनू है,लव जिहादी मौक़े पर ही धरा गया,वकीलों की सूचना पर पहुँचे लड़की के घरवालों ने थोड़ी सेवा भी की,योगीजी का ‘नया क़ानून’ बखूबी काम कर रहा है,वकीलों को ‘विशेष’ साधुवाद 😊 pic.twitter.com/h5yEPThe4S
— Shalabh Mani Tripathi (@shalabhmani) December 5, 2020
Provisions of the new law
The new anti-conversion law is aimed at preventing forced conversions under the pretext of love and marriage. “There were more than 100 incidents reported in which forceful religious conversion was being done. Also, it was reported that religious conversions were going on in the state using deceitful means. So to make a law on this becomes an important matter of policy now,” UP Cabinet Minister Siddharth Nath Singh had earlier remarked.
Under the new law, a jail term of 1-5 years is awarded to the accused (extended to 3-10 years in case of SC/STs) and a fine of ₹15,000 (₹25,000 in case of SC/STs). Moreover, the offender’s proven guilty for mass conversion will attract a jail term of 10 years.
Cases registered under anti-Grooming Jihad law
Multiple cases have been registered already under the new law. Muzaffarnagar police have registered a case against two accused named Nadeem and Salman on Monday evening. The two are accused of trying to force a married Hindu woman to convert to Islam. According to Akshay, the duo started luring his wife to leave him and marry one of them.
They also started asking her to convert to Islam on multiple occasions and tried to lure her for Nikkah. But Akshay got wind of the matter, and before things go out of hand, he left Bhagwanpur. Uttar Pradesh police have also arrested Uwais Ahmed, the accused who was absconding ever-since a case was registered against him, for trying to forcibly convert a Hindu girl to Islam.
