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The Kerala High Court says love is not a crime and that allegations of forced conversions in the guise of love target a particular community
The Kerala High Court has stayed investigations into alleged cases of ‘love jihad’ wherein two young men were accused of forcibly converting their lovers to Islam. The court was considering the petition of two youths who wanted first investigation reports (FIRs) filed against them to be dropped. The FIRs were filed by two women who claimed they had been forcibly converted to Islam after being lured into love affairs with the two men. Earlier, a bench of the high court held that such conversions were rampant and that the state government must enact legislation to curb the practice. This, despite a police report stating that there had been no mass forced conversions in the state for the last four years. The judge also refused to restrain use of the term ‘love jihad’. On December 17, 2009, however, Justice Shashidharan Nambiar stated that criminal justice was being taken for a ride and that the investigations targeted a particular community. He said: “Love marriage is not a crime. The police should have been more cautious while investigating cases of this nature which will have serious repercussions in society,” he said. He also came down heavily on the police investigation and cited various anomalies in its execution. The term ‘love jihad’ has been seized upon by both the RSS and the church in Kerala that alleges that thousands of girls are being converted to Islam in the guise of love marriages. They have even started helplines for alleged victims of the practice. Source: The Indian Express, December 18, 2009
DNA, December 18, 2009
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