On May 30, a Muslim man identified as Uved Khan with accomplice Jitendra Saini tried abducting a minor Hindu girl. The attempt to abduct the girl was foiled by locals and the accused handed over to the police, but tension persists in the Uttarkashi town and adjoining areas of Uttarakhand.
Since, the main accused in the case was Uved Khan who allegedly lured the minor Hindu girl and planned to elope, the Hindu activists called it a case of ‘Love Jihad’. The accused have been booked under the sections of Protection of Children from Sexual Offense (POCSO) Act.
“The two accused were identified and have been arrested. After the girl’s medical examination, sections of POCSO have also been added to the case. Further investigations in the case are underway,” said SP Uttarkashi Arpan Yaduvanshi.
“Protests will be granted permission only until they are peaceful. Any person who tries to take law in his hand will not be spared. Please do not believe in rumours,” he appealed.
Following the abduction attempt there was rage among the local people of the town and they had staged widespread protest across the city. As many as 40 shops in the hill town of Purola in Uttarkashi, 145 km from Dehradun, remained closed following the crime. The people enraged by the incident also demanded the shutdown of shops owned by Islamists and outsiders in the main market. They also demanded verification of non-local businessmen who run their businesses in rented premises in Purola.
They also took out procession beating drums and shouting slogans against “love jihad band karo” in all these towns.
As per the reports, one of the accused owned a cycle repairing shop and the other one was engaged in making handmade blankets in the main market area. The two trapped a Hindu girl studying in class 9 and abducted her to the Vikasnagar region of the state. Uved Khan also promised her marriage.
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) President from Purola, Virendra Singh Rawat said, “Saini happened to introduce Uved to the girl. He also influenced the girl in favor of Uved and helped the boy abduct the girl. The girl was actually trapped in a love affair by the Muslim accused who later also promised her of marriage. He then abducted her with the help of the other accused,”
He added, “Outsiders most of whom are from the minority communities migrate to Purola and set up small businesses like puncture, vehicle repairs, etc and then execute their agenda. They eye on Hindu girls and try to convert them to other religions. Several cases like these have happened in the past. This case is also one of those. Its simple love jihad,”
Watch the video from the protests here
These activists claimed that the accused Uved Khan had tried to conceal his identity in order to trap the minor.
Amid the ongoing protests in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district over a minor’s abduction attempt, unidentified people on June 5 put up posters on the shutters of several shops in Purola, asking owners to vacate their shops by June 15, or face consequences.
Yamuna Valley Hindu Jagriti Sangathan president Keshav Giri Maharaj also accused traders from outside of assuming fake identities and trapping innocent daughters in the hills.
“The incidents of abduction are increasing. The incident in Purola is a recent example of this. A similar incident had also happened in the Naugaon market,” he told PTI.
In the meantime, representatives of the local traders’ organisation, who also participated in the protest met with Devanand Sharma, the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) of Purola. They demanded thorough verification of all the people who are not local and are staying and working in Purola.
V Murugesan, additional director general of police (law & order) denied reports claiming that members of the minority communities have left the city. “Nobody has left the town as it is not that easy to just leave businesses and homes behind in one night. The situation is completely under control. The accused, who were arrested, were produced before the local court which later sent them to jail,” he said.
