Lucknow man arrested under UP's anti-conversion law

Lucknow Police has arrested a resident of Azamgarh and charged him under the anti-conversion law for allegedly concealing his identity and coercing a woman from a different community to marry him.

Sunil Kumar, ACP (Ghazipur), Lucknow Police on Sunday said that woman in her complaint alleged that Abid Hawari befriended her and had introduced himself as Crime Branch inspector Aditya Singh.

He later forced her to convert and marry him after threatening to circulate some intimate videos online, police said.

The police also stated that the complainant claimed that she got to know that Abid Hawari was already married and had seven children. She added that Hawari had also married another woman by Hindu rituals in February this year.

"An FIR has been lodged against him under Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Act, stated the police," ACP Kumar said.

As per the police, Abid was arrested by Indiranagar inspector Ajay Prakash Tripathi.

In November last year, the Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel had promulgated the UP Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance 2020.

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

( With inputs from ANI )

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