Jaipur: After three FIRs were registered on February 16, the police in Vijay Nagar, a town in Rajasthan’s Beawar district, arrested and detained a group of Muslim men – seven adults and three minors – for allegedly sexually assaulting and blackmailing five minor girls from the Hindu community over a period of time.
The incident led to protests by Hindutva groups, who demanded “bulldozer action” against the accused and also termed the incident as “love jihad”.
Right-wing groups often use the bogey of ‘love jihad’ while referring to interfaith romantic relationships between Muslim men and Hindu women. The term has been invented by Hindutva groups to accuse Muslim men of entrapping Hindu women on the pretext of love.
Three days after the arrests, the Vijay Nagar municipality began issuing notices to the families of the 10 accused. The notices issued over February 20 and 21 asked the families to submit proof of ownership of the houses where they resided.
If the documents are not presented, the municipality will conduct the action of removing illegal constructions/encroachments, and all the expenses would be realised from the families of the accused, said the notices.
On February 20, a notice was also issued to the administration of the Jama Masjid in Rajnagar area of the town, asking it to provide documents pertaining to proof of ownership of the mosque within a period of three days.
“Otherwise, after the stipulated time period, action will be taken under the Rajasthan Municipalities Act, 2009, for which you yourself will be responsible,” says the notice issued to the mosque written in Hindi.
Activists have slammed the municipality’s actions and have said that any imminent act of demolition will be a violation of Supreme Court’s guidelines on demolitions.
This story was originally published in thewire.in. Read the full story here.
