'Love Jihad' controversy: Case against parents of girl

, Oct 14: A case of assault and threatening to murder has been registered against the parents of the 22-year-old girl who was at the centre of the '

' controversy and has gone back on her statement that she was gang-raped and forcibly converted.

Two days after the girl claimed that there is a threat to her life from her parents, police registered a case under section 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code against them, SSP Meerut Omkar Singh said. The matter is sub-judice, Singh said, adding, investigation will be started on the directions of the court after the girl records her statement.

The girl had filed a complaint on Sunday with the Mahila Police Station against her parents, saying that she had run away from her house on her own free will with Kaleem, a Muslim, as there was "threat to her life" and alleged that she was also "beaten up".

In an earlier complaint lodged on August 3, the girl had alleged that she had been abducted, gang-raped and forcibly converted to Islam. The woman's father had also lodged a complaint in August in Kharkhauda police station against Village Pradhan Nawab Khan, cleric Sallaullah, his wife and daughter Nishant for abduction and rape. However, the girl approached the woman police station here on Sunday and claimed that there is a threat to her life from her parents', SP (Rural) Captain M S Begh had said.

According to the complaint, her family had forced her to file a false complaint and when she objected, they threatened her with dire consequences and that she ran away fearing danger to her life. The alleged victim said that she had "gone on her own free will" with the boy, controverting what she had said in her Sec 164 (of the CrPC) statement to a magistrate.

However, the father of the girl has disputed her claim and said she has been threatened to give a retraction statement by one Saddam who forcibly took her to the woman police station on Sunday morning. The police said that after recording her statement in front of an executive magistrate, she has been sent to Nari Niketan (women's home) for her safety and protection. "She told the woman police officer that she has life threat from her own parents.

On this ground she has been sent to the Nari Niketan for the safety and protection," the SSP said. The matter of alleged gang-rape and conversion in August was latched up by the BJP whose leaders including Yogi Adityanath, state in charge of by-elections, exploited the issue of 'love jihad', especially in western parts of the state. As the incident sparked an outrage, the Centre sought a detailed report from Uttar Pradesh government at the earliest while the family of the girl demanded a CBI probe.

PTI