In the first case of conviction under the draconian law, Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021, an India court has served a five-year jail term to a 26-year-old Muslim carpenter for marrying a girl from another community after conversion. Additional Director General of Police, Prosecution, Ashutosh Pandey, confirmed that since the introduction of the new law in December 2021, the conviction by the Amroha court was the first under the new law. Amroha Additional District Judge (POCSO court), Kapila Raghav announced a jail term of five years for Afzal and imposed a penalty of Rs 40,000. Gajendra Pal Singh, Investigation Officer at Hasanpur police station, said that on April 4, 2021, Amroha police had arrested Afzal from Delhi and booked him under Uttar Pradesh’s anti-conversion law for allegedly marrying a girl belonging to another community. She married after being converted to Islam. The police filed a case against Afzal and invoked the anti-conversion law.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-INP