In the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Muslims were forbidden to seduce girls for conversion to Islam – the so-called “love jihad”, reports Reuters .
It is noted that those guilty of using marriage to force a change of religion will face up to 5 years in prison. From now on, a couple, consisting of adherents of different religions, will have to notify the judge two months before the wedding, and then receive the approval of the authorities.
It is known that the law was pushed through by the ruling nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, headed by the Prime Minister Narendroi Modi . Uttar Pradesh is the third state to pass legislation based on the “love jihad” conspiracy theory.
The term “love jihad” appeared in 2009, when a number of Indians in the south of the country suspected that local Muslim men were charming girls from Christian and Hindu families, promising to marry them and demanding to convert to Islam for this. Muslim representatives argue that converting to Islam at the request of a newly converted girl is not criminal and does not happen more often than converting back.