UP man “forcibly” converted, made to marry Muslim woman, claims his wife

PTI, Dec 28, 2023, 2:10 PM IST

Police here have lodged an FIR after a revenue officer’s wife alleged that he was forcibly converted to Islam and made to marry a Muslim woman, officials said on Wednesday.

Arti Gupta went to the police when she learnt about the “wedding” through social media as her husband Ashish Kumar Gupta — a naib tehsildar posted in Maudaha tehsil of Hamirpur — had not come home for almost four months.

According to police, Ashish Kumar Gupta has so far not been traced.

In her complaint lodged at the City Kotwali Police Station, Arti Gupta, a resident of Kanpur city, said her husband was “forcibly” converted to Islam and made to marry a Muslim woman named Rukhsaar, police said.

A case was registered against five people, including the Naib Tehsildar, and around six unidentified people. Two of them, including a maulvi at a local mosque in Maudaha, have been detained, police said.

Arti Gupta told police that her husband was having an affair with Rukhsaar.

Rukhsar’s father, one Munna, Maulvi Babu Aadhati of a local mosque in Maudaha and four to five others “forcibly” converted Ashish Gupta on December 24 and got him married to the woman, she alleged in the complaint.

Police said a case has been registered against Ashish Gupta, Rukhsaar, her father, Munna, Aadhati and five to six unidentified people under section 494 (marrying again during lifetime of husband or wife) of the Indian Penal Code and the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act.

After registering the case, the accused maulvi and Munna have been taken into custody and are being interrogated, they said.

According to some locals, Ashish Gupta would also offer namaz in a mosque in Maudaha.

The caretaker of the mosque, Muhammad Mushtaq, said Ashish Gupta identified himself as Mohammad Yusuf. Later, when he revealed that he was the naib tehsildar of Maudaha and a resident of Kanpur, the caretaker informed the authorities.

Maudaha Tehsildar Balram Gupta, however, said the reports of the naib tehsildar offering namaz could not be verified.

The statements of local people in Maudaha were recorded as part of the investigation. The claims of Ashish Gupta offering namaz in a mosque could not be verified, Balram Gupta said.