India News | Youth Held Under Anti-conversion Law for Marrying Minor Girl in UP's Gorakhpur

Gorakhpur (UP), Mar 10 (PTI) A youth belonging to Bihar was arrested in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur district for allegedly kidnapping and forcefully marrying a Hindu minor girl, police said on Wednesday.

A case of kidnapping along with provisions of the recently enacted anti-conversion law of the state has been lodged and further sections of law, if required, will be added after the girl's statement, police said.

Police are also searching the person who facilitated the nikah ceremony.

Tabarak Khan, a native of Samastipur district in Bihar and living in a rented house in Shahpur police station area, kidnapped a 14-year-old girl living in the neighbourhood and forcefully married her on March 1.

He issued life threats to her and warned against telling anyone about the marriage and sent her back to her home the same day.

The girl's mother told police that the accused had often been teasing her daughter. Recently, the mother found a document in Urdu from her daughter's school bag and after inquiring came to know that it was a marriage certificate (nikahnama).

The girl, who is a Class 6 student, had not told anyone about the marriage apparently out of fear. The girl's family is very poor and work as labourers, police said.

“On the complaint of the girl's mother, an FIR under sections of kidnapping and UP Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Ordinance, 2020 was lodged on Sunday and the accused was arrested on Tuesday," SHO of Shahpur police station S K Singh said.

The medical report is awaited and other sections of the law would be added after the statement of the girl in court, he said. PTI CORR SAB

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)