By News Desk
In recent events, two alarming incidents of harassment targeting interfaith couples have come to light from Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, shedding light on the ongoing threat of right-wing vigilante groups and challenges surrounding personal freedoms in the country.
In Uttar Pradesh’s Basti district on Saturday, December 28, Hindutva members reportedly affiliated to the Vishva Hindu Mahasangh organisation heckled a Hindu woman who had recently married a Muslim man, accusing her of being a target of “Love Jihad”.
“Love jihad” is a conspiracy theory that accuses Muslim men of intentionally and strategically alluring and entrapping non-Muslim women with the intent to “convert them” to Islam and marry them as part of an “Islamisation project”.
A video of the harassment that has surfaced on social media depicts the group members led by Akhilesh Singh, donning saffron scarves, questioning the woman and demanding she show her Aadhaar card.
Despite the woman’s repeated explanations she and her Muslim partner had a legal marriage in court with their consent, the agitated group continued to harass her, demanding to call her parents to verify the legality of the marriage.
“I’m ready to go to jail. I have got married on my own wish. This is my life,” the woman is heard saying in the video clip.
This story was originally published in siasat.com. Read the full story here.
