A Muslim girl, whose sister married a Hindu boy in Aligarh after going missing, has levelled serious allegations against former BJP mayor Shakuntala Bharti. The girl held a press conference on Sunday in which she accused Shakuntala Bharti of converting Muslim girls by luring them and marrying them off to Hindu boys.
Former BJP mayor Shakuntala Bharti has denied the allegations outright and said if someone can prove the charges then she will leave the state forever.
However, the girl, who went missing from her house and married a Hindu boy, has said that she married on her own will and no one had put any pressure on her.
The girl disappeared from her home on August 7 after which her sister’s husband lodged a complaint against a Hindu boy. He alleged that his sister-in-law escaped with the Hindu boy and took some jewellery and cash with her and was converting herself to get married to the boy.
Acting on the complaint, police registered a case against the boy under section 363, 366 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and started looking for the girl. The girl’s sister, on the other hand, took to Twitter and accused former mayor Shakuntala Bharti of abducting Muslim girls, converting them and marrying them off to Hindu boys.
Police traced the missing girl who, in her statement to the cops, said she is an adult and married the boy on her own will.
The girl’s sister has alleged that when she went to the police station and got an FIR registered, the police kept on avoiding it, but, when she threatened to call the media, the cops immediately traced her sister. She said that her sister came in a car with Shakuntala Bharti.
“Shakuntala Bharti was keeping my sister with her. She is converting Muslim girls. They have converted my sister. This is a team. Why does Shakuntala Bharti interfere in the matters of Muslims? She did not even let my sister talk to me,” the girl’s sister said.
Refuting the allegations, Shakuntala Bharti said that if the claims are proven right then she will leave Uttar Pradesh and not show up again.
“I demand from the administration that legal action should be taken against these people. If investigation finds out that I knew anything about the conversion of this girl, then I will leave Uttar Pradesh and never show up again. Prove it. If you cannot prove it, do not talk about such things. These people want to tarnish my image,” Shakuntala Bharti said.
The girl who married the Hindu boy told India Today TV that they tied the knot on August 10 at the Arya Samaj temple and that no one had forced her to do so.
“I got married to my will. He [her husband] used to come to my house, that way I met him. I was not under pressure from anyone. This has nothing to do with the former mayor. The allegation my sister has made is wrong. My sister does not want me to be with these people [her in-laws]. She abuses these people,” she said.
This story first appeared on indiatoday.in