Indian Police Stop Muslim Marriage After Rumors Bride Was Once Hindu
14 Dec 2020
Police in the northern Indian town of Kushinagar halted a marriage ceremony between two Muslims last week and arrested the groom after local residents reported the union to authorities, falsely claiming that the bride was once Hindu, Indian news site The Wire reported on Sunday.
The groom, Haider Ali, 39, has alleged that police officers beat him while he was in custody overnight. His bride, Shabeela Khatoon, 28, was also taken into police custody on the day of their attempted wedding, December 8.
“On Tuesday afternoon [December 8], Shabeela and I got married. After the ceremony, a small party was on when a police team arrived and said there had been no ‘nikaah
Acting on complaint about ‘love jihad’, UP Police stops wedding of Muslim couple PTI
The man and the woman turned out to be both Muslims and adults.
The man told a newspaper later that he was thrashed with a leather belt at the station, an allegation denied by the police.
Kushinagar Superintendent of Police Vinod Kumar Singh said someone from Gurnia village had informed them on Tuesday that a couple was getting “quietly” married there, and suspected it to be a case of “love jihad.”
The term is used by right-wing activists to refer to marriages allegedly performed for the sake of religious conversion.