3 women arrested in UP on charges of religious conversion

BALRAMPUR: Three women have been arrested after police booked seven persons for allegedly harassing a family of the Nishad community to undergo religious conversion in Uttar Pradesh's Balrampur district.

The accused allegedly threatened the family to either do what was asked or leave the locality, police said.

An FIR has been lodged under various sections, including the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021, against the seven accused.

A police official said the incident took place at the minority-dominated Jafrabad locality where a family of one Deepa Nishad, the complainant, lives.

The family was allegedly harassed by their neighbours.

He said the FIR was lodged against three women -- Sahajadi, Moharma and Sahiba -- and four men Amirzade, Irfan, Sonu and Afreed.

Balrampur Superintendent of Police Rajesh Kumar Saxena said the three women had been arrested and more arrests will follow as the matter was being investigated.

The complainant said the seven persons often pressured her to sell her house situated in the Muslim-dominated locality. The neighbours also allegedly threatened to kill her and her family.

Another police official said the complainant further alleged that the three arrested women had once barged inside her house and spit on the temple set up by the family in May, an incident that she had video recorded.

He said the police took action against the offenders after she released the video. He added the offenders were booked under charges of religious conversion and desecration of temple.

The police official said there might have been a dispute over a drain after which the issue escalated.

He added similar confrontation between them took place on December 20 that ended in stone pelting.

The police had then interfered and the matter was sorted with mutual consent, he added.