In a 1st, man gets 5 yrs in jail under UP's anti-conversion law

AMROHA: In the first case of conviction under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021, a court in Amroha has served a five-year jail term to a 26-year-old carpenter.

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 on Saturday 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 kidnapping a 16-year-old girl belonging to another community.

“The girl’s father, who ran a plant nursery, had claimed that his daughter had left home for work but did not return. He had also told the police that two locals had spotted her with a youth.

The girl’s family had told the police that they knew the girl was in regular touch with Afzal, who used to visit her father’s nursery to purchase plants.

The police then filed a case against Afzal and charged him with kidnapping and invoked the anti-conversion law.