UP: 17-year-old boy charged under anti-conversion law
He is accused of abducting a 15-year-old girl earlier this week when she was on her way to a market to purchase a medicine. This is the first case registered under anti-conversion law in which a minor boy has been booked.
Written by Manish Sahu | Lucknow | Updated: January 24, 2021 12:13:26 pm
A 17-year-old boy in Ghazipur district has been detained under the new anti-conversion law and on kidnapping charges.
He is accused of abducting a 15-year-old girl earlier this week when she was on her way to a market to purchase a medicine. This is the first case registered under anti-conversion law in which a minor boy has been booked.
The police detained the boy on Friday and found the girl with him. “The boy was produced before a Juvenile Justice Board, which sent him to a protection home. The girl’s statement to the magistrate is yet to be examined,” said the circle officer of the area where the alleged incident occurred.
The officer said the girl was medically examined and would be handed over to her family after legal formalities conclude.
The girl’s neighbour told The Indian Express that on Tuesday she went out to purchase medicine. In the afternoon, a local resident saw her getting into a car with a boy from a neighbouring village. The man immediately informed the girl’s family, who then started looking for her. The girl’s father, who works in a private firm in Lucknow, reached the village after coming to know about the matter, said the neighbour.
The following day, the girl’s mother visited the local station and told the police that a boy from the neighbouring village had kidnapped her daughter on the pretext of marriage. She said the boy might try to convert her daughter’s religion.
The girl’s mother got a case lodged against the boys and two of his friends, also 17 years old, on various charges, including conspiracy and kidnapping and inducing a woman to compel her marriage. The boy’s friends were booked for allegedly helping him abduct the girl. They have not been caught yet. The police spoke to local residents and a friend of the girl. Based on their information, the two were tracked down.
The girl’s mother told The Indian Express that her daughter had never told her about the accused.
“I have come to know that the boy’s house is located close to my daughter’s school,” the mother added.
Nineteen cases have so far been lodged in 17 districts under the anti-conversion law since its promulgation.
