Step to curb Love Jihad: Sexual relations established with fake identity, crime now; Amit Shah introduces new bill

On August 11, the Union Home Minister, Amit Shah introduced three bills in the Lok Sabha, one will prove to be a step towards criminalising cases of ‘Love Jihad’. The Home Minister introduced three new bills in the House to revamp the current criminal code in India.

While addressing the house the Home Minister pointed out an important provision in the bill that criminalises sexual relationships developed on false prestences.

Shah introduced three new bills which are  Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and Bharatiya Sakshya Billwill. These bills will replace the existing  Indian Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code and the Indian Evidence Act respectively.

Notably, In the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, crimes against women and children have been given precedence.

While addressing the house Shah said, “The act of establishing sexual relations with anyone by making false promises of marriage, job, promotion, or by expressing wrong identity, has been made a criminal offence for the first time by the Narendra Modi government,”

Notably, cases where men have used false identities to trap women and later exploited, converted and even killed them are flooding from all around. These cases are often termed as ‘Love Jihad’ by the mainstream media. If we go by the definition, Love Jihad are the cases following a pattern where Muslim men trap Hindu women using fake identities and later force them to convert.

To control the rising number of cases as many as three BJP-ruled states Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand have passed Anti-Conversion Laws. The new bill will prove to be another step in providing security to women.

The home minister also announced that all members of gang rape will invite a jail term of 20 years or life imprisonment. Apart from this, new provisions have been introduced for mob lynching and death sentences for the rape of minors.

Organiser has been reporting cases following a pattern where Hindu women fell prey to the tricks of Muslim men and later face repercussions since the beginning. Recently, we compiled a list of ‘60 cases of love jihad’ and ‘30 cases where Muslim men used Kalwa, Tilak and other religious identities to pose as Hindus’.