The controversial conviction of a Muslim man by an Uttar Pradesh court, which claimed that his marriage to a Hindu woman was a case of “love jihad”, is bad in law and likely to be set aside on appeal, legal experts have said.
“Love jihad” is a Hindutva conspiracy theory that Muslim men are waging a campaign to lure Hindu women into marriage in order to convert them to Islam.
On September 30, sessions judge Ravi Kumar Diwakar found 26-year old Mohammad Aalim guilty of raping a 23-year old woman several times and sentenced him to life imprisonment. Aalim was also fined Rs 1 lakh. Section 376(2)(n) of the Indian Penal Code prescribes imprisonment for life – defined as “imprisonment for the remainder of that person’s natural life” – as the maximum punishment for repeatedly raping the same woman.
Aalim’s father was given a two-year jail sentence.
“The primary aim of ‘love jihad’ is to alter demographics and stir international tensions, driven by radical factions within a religious group,” the judge said. “Essentially, it refers to the deceptive conversion of non-Muslim women to Islam through fraudulent marriages.”
The court pronounced the harsh sentence despite the complainant rescinding her testimonty. She told the court that she had filed the case under pressure from Hindutva groups and her parents. Since the testimony of the victim is the most crucial piece of evidence in a rape trial, this admission should have led to Aalim being acquitted, legal experts told Scroll.
They also noted that the judge’s gratuitous reference to the “love jihad” conspiracy theory was judicially inappropriate.
This story was originally published in scroll.in. Read the full story here.