Just before rituals, Lucknow police stop inter-faith marriage

Lucknow, Dec 04: The Lucknow police while citing violations of the new UP ordinance on religious conversions stopped an interfaith wedding here on Wednesday evening.

The ceremony was stopped just as the bride and bridegroom were to be joined in wedlock involving rituals of both religions.

The police intervened in the wedding of Raina Gupta (22) and Mohammad Asif (24) on the basis of the information provided by the district Hindu Mahasabha chief. No FIR was lodged as both families agreed to postpone the ceremony till they received the DM's permission as mandated by the law. After serving notice, the earliest the couple can be married is two months from now.

When the police reached the venue, they found that preparations were underway to conduct the marriage rituals as per Hindu traditions. The wedding was to be later solemnised through Muslim rituals.

While the wedding was not opposed to by both families, the ceremony could not have been conducted without conversion, additional DCP (South) Suresh Chandra Rawat said.

He also said that the wedding was stopped in accordance with Section 3 and 8 (clause two) of the recently promulgated Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance 2020. It says that nobody should convert or attempt to convert directly or otherwise any person from one religion to another by use or any practice of misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement or by any fraudulent means or by marriage. Abetment, convincing or conspiring to carry out such conversions is also punishable under the new law.