Ghaziabad Police on Thursday arrested a doctor, who married a colleague at an Arya Samaj temple six years ago after the woman's family claimed that he 'converted' to Hinduism just to 'deceive' her.
The police have charged the doctor Abdur Rahman (42) under Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021, which bars conversion through force or deception.
Usually, it has been applied in cases where the Muslim men are accused of attempts to convert women to Islam on the pretext of marriage.
Rahman is also accused of causing burn injuries to the woman Harsha Sarangi. He has, however, claimed that she burnt herself while making tea.
The couple married in 2018 and have a son together, the officials said, adding the first information report (FIR) was registered at the Kotwali Police Station here on the complaint of the woman's mother on August 13.
Abdur Rahman and the complainant's daughter Harsha Sarangi had come to know each other while working at a private hospital in Noida, police said.
The accused also acted of adopting Hinduism in order to convince her for marriage, which took place at an Arya Samaj temple on October 15, 2018. But he continued to follow Islam and even gave their son, born in June 2021, a Muslim name, they said.
"After 11 months of his acquaintance with the lady doctor, Rahman converted his religion and became Hindu with an intention to deceive her and tied knot with her at Arya Samaj temple of Noida," DCP (Ghaziabad City) Rajesh Kumar Singh said.
"The FIR in the case was lodged at the Kotwali police station on August 13. Sangvika Sarangi, the mother of lady doctor, also alleged that her daughter was burnt by Rahman for which was treated at a hospital in Delhi," he added.
"However, during the investigation, the police found that Rahman had adopted the Hindu religion for marriage. He never followed the Hindu religion full heartedly. In June 2021, the couple was blessed with a male child. Rahman gave him a name on the Muslim religion and got the child circumcised," the DCP said.
Sarangi alleged in her complaint that Rahman had befriended her daughter as part of 'love jihad', the police officer added.
Right-wing Hindu activists often use the term 'love jihad' to describe a 'conspiracy' to convert Hindu women to Islam by luring them into relationships or marriages.
The accused also has been booked under Indian Penal Code sections 326 (causing grievous hurt) and 420 (cheating).
