At an event organised by Friends of Tribals Society, BJP leader and lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay peddled the conspiracy theory of “love jihad”, falsely claiming that 1,000 girls fall victim to it daily. He claimed that “love jihad” happens because most people do not come out to file complaints due to shame, and repeated court summons deter parents from filing cases. He blamed Parliament and the Supreme Court for being responsible for it, alleging that 3.5 lakh girls fall victim to “love jihad” annually and 5 lakh go missing. He called for a strict law that would instill fear “like Corona.”