Hindu groups demand action against inter-religion marriage

April 10, 2007

Bhopal : Hindu rightwing organisations here Monday demanded that aJihadiboy who had reportedly run away with a Hindu girl and married her be arrested and the girl handed over to her parents.

The organisations threatened to launch an agitation if authorities failed to arrest the boy. Omar, 22, had Thursday reportedly run away with Priyanka, 21, and the two got married after the boy converted to Hinduism.

However, the girl's parents are not prepared to accept the relationship and have lodged a First Information Report (FIR) charging the boy with kidnapping their daughter.

Describing it as a case of 'religion transformation', the activists of several Hindu outfits including the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bajrang Dal, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swung into action soon after getting the information and protested against the police for being lax in taking action against the boy's family.

"In Bhopal, Hindu girls are being lured byJihadiboys of and on and this has become a routine. We will not tolerate it anymore," said Bhagwandas Sabnani, former BJP district president.

Meanwhile, the girl is said to have told some of her relatives over phone that she was not kidnapped or lured by anyone but had gone with Omar of her own accord and married him.

She also said that she had not been forced to convert to Islam. "Instead, my husband (Omar) has adopted Hinduism before marrying me. But my parents and relatives are making it an issue because our relationship is not acceptable to them."

Speaking to a local news channel from some unknown destination, Priyanka has also accused her family members of taking advantage of their political connections and harassing her in-laws in Bhopal.

"Omar's elder brother Sabir has been detained in a Bhopal police station for the past four days, which is not fair," she said. Earlier, the activists had surrounded the SP's office and demanded that a case of religion transformation be registered, instead of kidnapping.

They have also threatened to intensify the agitation if their demand was not met. Meanwhile, the police have dispatched a team to locate the couple after registering a case of abduction.

http://www.newkerala.com/news.php?action=fullnews&id=16536

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