The right-wing groups that attacked an interfaith couple in a Bhopal courthouse and beaten the man over accusations of “love jihad” were alerted about the pair’s marriage registration by the notary’s office.
The man has been charged with pressuring the woman to convert, but no arrests have been made in relation to the assault, which was captured on camera. According to a number of sources in the Bhopal district court Bar association and right-wing organizations, the couple went to the notary office to get an affidavit made stating that they were getting married voluntarily.
The pair had traveled from another district to provide an affidavit, according to advocate Ravi Goyal, who was in the courtroom. “Many of our sources kept a watch on the couple, and they were finally tracked near the canteen. We even knew which lawyer was drafting their affidavit. They were trying to make an affidavit stating they wanted to marry of their own will.”
“We were all present when this happened,” said Devender Raghav, a former Bajrang Dal worker and the legal head of the Madhya Pradesh chapter of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and former president of the Bar Association. Uski seva kari aur police ko bhej diya (He was sent to the police after being “served”). “When anyone tries to register their marriage, I get informed and their religion is checked. If we find they are from different religions, we activate our network and try to get the Hindu woman to rejoin her family,” he said.
Chandra Shekhar Tiwari, president of the Sanskriti Bachao Manch, which was among the groups who sent members to the court, alleged that the man had “multiple photographs and contact numbers of Hindu women on his phone and had coerced his partner into marriage”.
Section 3/5 of the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 2021, has led to the man’s arrest and booking. “No FIR has been filed against the attackers in the video,” a senior police officer stated. They are not the subject of any complaints. To date, the individual has not made a statement accusing the perpetrators.
