Law against 'Love Jihad' gets UP Governor's nod
Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel has promulgated the UP Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance 2020.
FollowUttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel has promulgated the UP Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance 2020.
The law makes forced religious conversion punishable in the state with a jail term between one and 10 years and a fine stretching from Rs 15,000 to Rs 50,000. A marriage for the sake of conversion will be declared null and void.
According to the law, if a person intends to convert to another religion, he or she must serve a 60-day notice to the district magistrate. The magistrate will then carry out enquiries to see if the conversion is consensual or if blackmail or deceit is involved.
The jail sentence for the offence would be 3-10 years if the woman is from the SC/ST community or is seen as part of mass conversion. The notice period to the district magistrate for the religious conversion has been doubled to two months from a month in an earlier draft.
The Uttar Pradesh government says the law was necessitated by the rising incidence of forced conversions in the garb of marriage.Â
The UP government has said that over 100 cases of 'Love Jihad' have been reported wherein conversions were carried out with deceit and force.Â
