By Bagish Jha
A Yamunanagar court has sentenced a man to seven years of rigorous imprisonment for sexually assaulting and intimidating a minor Hindu girl to coerce her into a relationship with a Muslim juvenile, terming the case one of “love jihad”. the court also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on the convict and said such fact were “a potential threat” to the nation’s sovereignty and integrity.
While acknowledging that ‘love jihad’ is not a legal term under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita or the Pocso Act, the court described it as a “purported campaign by Muslim men to convert non-Muslim women to Islam by pretending to be in love.”
In Nov last year, a 14 year old girt filed a complaint at City Yamunanagar police station, naming Shahbaj and a juvenile stations, naming Shahbaj and a juvenile. She alleged the boy had stalked her on her way to school while Shahbaj pressured her to befriend him.
This story was originally published in timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Read the full story here.
