Last Updated on 30/07/2024 by Ankita Jain
The Yogi government of Uttar Pradesh has taken very strict steps to curb the cases of ‘love jihad’. A strict law is going to be made in UP to stop the cases of love jihad, in which there is a provision of life imprisonment if the crime of love jihad is proved. In this law, the punishment of many crimes has been doubled. Many new crimes have also been added under love jihad.
In fact, the central government has already said that it is a matter of the state governments and it is up to the state governments to decide this. Therefore, in the new law being made in UP, there is a plan to bring the funding for illegal religious conversion under the purview of the law. Let us tell you what are the provisions in the anti-love jihad law of UP.
What are the provisions in the new law
1. The new law provides for 20 years’ imprisonment or life imprisonment if found guilty.
2. Now any person can file an FIR in cases of conversion.
3. In the first case, presence of the victim, parents or siblings was necessary to give information or complaint.
4. No court below the Sessions Court will hear cases of Love Jihad.
5. In cases of love jihad, the bail plea will not be considered without giving an opportunity to the public prosecutor.
6. In this all the crimes have been made non-bailable.
The first law was made in 2020
Let us tell you that the Yogi government of Uttar Pradesh made the first law against love jihad in 2020. After this, the UP government passed the Prohibition of Religious Conversion Bill 2021 in the Assembly. This bill had a provision of punishment ranging from 1 to 10 years. There was a provision in this bill that religious conversion done only for marriage will be considered invalid.
Earlier there was a provision for 10 years of punishment
According to the old law made in UP, converting someone’s religion by lying or cheating would be considered a crime. If someone wants to convert their religion voluntarily, then he has to inform the magistrate 2 months in advance. According to the bill, there was a provision of 1-5 years imprisonment along with a fine of 15 thousand rupees for converting religion forcibly or by deceit. In this case also, if the case was related to a Dalit girl, then in that case there was a provision of 3 to 10 years imprisonment along with a fine of 25 thousand rupees.
The case came up in Lucknow
Many incidents of love jihad have been coming to the fore in the state. CM Yogi has issued instructions to take strict action on this matter many times. The CM has said that incidents of trapping Hindu girls in love traps by lying will not be tolerated. In the year 2023, one such shocking incident came to light in Mohanlalganj, Lucknow. Here a Hindu family saw that their daughter was offering Namaaz. The people of the house were stunned to see this. After strict interrogation of the girl, it was found that she had married a Muslim boy. The boy has also converted her religion. In this case, despite the pressure of the family, the girl had fled with the boy. Similar incidents have come to the fore in Lucknow, Bareilly, Bahraich and areas of western UP.