UP woman goes missing, cops lodge case against man under anti-conversion law

Police have lodged a case against a Karnataka man for allegedly kidnapping a 19-year-old woman after befriending her, hiding his religious identity, police said on Thursday.

A missing report was lodged by woman's far on January 5 after she did t return home from college, Station House Officer, Chiluatal police station, Neeraj Kumar Rai said.

"During an investigation and with help of call records of woman's mobile phone, it was found that she used to frequently talk to man whose name in Truecaller app was mentioned as Mehboob and location as Karnataka," he said.

A case was lodged against man on January 11, following which a three-member police team was sent to Karnataka to trace man and kidnapped woman, Rai said.

On basis of se inputs, woman's far lodged an FIR against man and accused him of allegedly kidnapping his daughter and hiding his Muslim identity, he said.

woman's far, who is a retired Army man, has mentioned in FIR that last year man had befriended his daughter through social media and wooed her on pretext of providing a job.

Police said that everything would be clear once accused and kidnapped woman are traced.

case was lodged under sections 366 (kidnapping, abduction or inducing woman to compel her into marri ) and 363 (kidnapping) of Indian Penal Code, besides new anti-conversion law of Uttar Pradesh government, SHO said.

recently promulgated Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020, nullifies marris if y are carried out for sole purpose of religious conversion.