In the wake of the alleged love jihad, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Government undertook certain measures to curb religious conversion in Uttar Pradesh. On November 27, 2020, the state government passed the Prohibition of Law-Conversion Prohibition Ordinance-2020.
With the implementation of the ordinance strong action was taken against those accused of religious conversion. As per official available data released here on Friday, as many as 433 cases related to religious conversion were registered in the state from 27 November 27, 2017 to April 30, 2023. More than 855 arrests have been made in the cases so far. In 184 cases, women victims confessed before the court that they were forcibly converted. At the same time, 66 cases of conversion of minors have been registered so far.
A total of 433 cases related to religious conversion were registered in UP. In this, a maximum of 86 cases were registered in Bareilly zone while 61 cases were registered in Gorakhpur, 55 in Lucknow, 47 in Meerut, 46 in Prayagraj and 40 in Varanasi.
On the other hand, most of the accused were arrested from the Prayagraj zone. While taking action in these cases, the police of Prayagraj zone arrested 163 accused while137 arrests were made in Bareilly. 124 in Lucknow, 115 in Varanasi, 86 in Gorakhpur, 65 in Meerut, 37 in Agra zone, 21 accused of conversion in Kanpur were caught by the police.
As per the provisions of the Prohibition of Illegal Religious Conversion Act, a person found guilty of religious forced conversion can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined Rs 15,000 to Rs 50,000.
The ordinance makes it mandatory for interfaith couples to inform about their marriage to the district magistrate two months before getting married. There is a provision in the ordinance of imprisonment from one to five years with a minimum fine of Rs 15,000 for forcible conversion.
There is also a provision of punishment of three to 10 years for the conversion of minors and women of SC/ST communities. Forcible mass conversion warrants 3 to 10 years jail and a fine of Rs 50,000. According to the ordinance, if the sole purpose of the marriage is to convert a woman, such a marriage can be declared illegal.