The boy has been in jail for over a week after being accused of trying to convert the 16-year-old girl – a charge denied by both the girl and her mother.

BIJNOR — The Uttar Pradesh Police has arrested a Muslim teenager under the controversial anti-conversion law, after he was found walking with a Dalit Hindu girl in Bijnor district of Uttar Pradesh, NDTV reported on Friday.

The boy has been in jail for over a week after being accused of trying to convert the 16-year-old girl – a charge denied by both the girl and her mother.

According to the report,  the incident took place on the night of December 15, when the girl, a Dalit, and her former classmate, a Muslim, while returning home after attending a friend’s birthday party, were allegedly chased by a group of men. The men beat the two with sticks and forced them to identify themselves. And, when it became apparent that they belonged to different religions, they were reportedly taken to a local police station.

“Around 11.30 pm some people caught hold of us and thrashed us. They accused us of theft. They caught one boy, I don’t know who he was, and they caught me. I did not know who the boy was. It is not true that he was trying to convert me,” the report quoted the girl as saying.

The girl’s mother also backed her claim saying she was returning from a birthday party. The boy told her that he would drop her home.

According to police, the first information report (FIR) was filed in Dhampur on a complaint by the girl’s father.  The report says that the girl’s father alleged that the boy tried to persuade the girl to elope and force her to convert.

Meanwhile, the Bijnor police claimed the girl was kidnapped by the accused but she ‘managed to escape’ from his custody.

“A girl had been missing for a few days, she has been found and a case filed. The boy had given a Hindu name, Sonu, and had coaxed her to run away for the purpose of converting. She somehow managed to escape. The accused has been arrested,” said Sanjay Kumar, a senior police officer in Bijnor.

The Pradhan or chief of the girl’s village, however, refuted the Police version.

“The police seem to have made up a case, there was no love jihad involved. The girl’s parents told me she had gone to a birthday party. The boy and she knew each other,” the Pradhan, Vinod Saini, told NDTV.

“The villagers may have thought they were thieves and told the cops. They were taken to a police station. I got a phone call. I took the father to the police station. He gave a written statement saying no legal action was needed. We took the girl home.

Later, a policeman called and said bring the girl to the police station. I asked why and he said a senior officer had called saying a love jihad case would be filed,” Saini said.

Muslim teenager’s mother told NDTV in tears “My boy said he was going to a birthday. The next morning we found out he was in a police station. I want him back, he was beaten also….”

The Uttar Pradesh Police seem to be hugely misusing the UP Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance 2020, promulgated in November.

The new law calls for a jail term to the accused between one to five years with Rs 15,000 penalty, if convicted for carrying out forceful conversions for marriage.