A 21-year-old Muslim software engineer from Bengaluru, who flew to Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh to meet a girl he had befriended online was beaten up over allegations of ‘forced conversion’ and taken to a police station and detained overnight.
A local right-wing extremist outfit insisted that anti-conversion or the so-called ‘Love Jihad’ charges be pressed against him. The police took him into preventive detention on Sunday evening but he was released on Monday on a personal bail bond, IANS reported.
The youth, who works in an IT firm in Bengaluru said he met the girl online and became friends with her. Since it was her birthday, he flew down to meet her with some gifts and headed for her house in Lakhimpur Kheri.
Trouble began for the youth, as soon as he presented himself in front of the girl’s parents. Neighbours and some right-wing extremist groups surrounded the house.
“They started beating me, one of them called the police and insisted that it was a case of ‘forced conversion’. I was taken to the police station and I showed them the flight ticket and the gifts,” he told reporters.
Suneel Kumar, SHO of Sadar Kotwali, where he was detained, said, “The girl’s family said they felt threatened by him. But they did not want to file a complaint so no FIR was registered. We ‘challaned’ him under Section 151 of the CrPC (to prevent commission of cognisable offence). He was produced in the court of the sub divisional magistrate on Monday, who ordered his release on a personal bond.”
