UP man befriends married Dalit woman on Facebook, converts her after eloping; arrested

A man in Uttar Pradesh’s Siddharthnagar befriended a married woman belonging to a Dalit family on Facebook, eloped with her and forcibly converted her. The main accused has been arrested, along with five others.

Shailesh Kumar said his wife Lakshmi got to know Sazaullah through Facebook.

A case of unlawful religious conversion has come to the fore in the Mishrauliya police station area of Uttar Pradesh’s Siddharthnagar district.

A man befriended a married woman belonging to a Dalit family on Facebook, eloped with her and converted her to Islam.

The accused has been arrested, along with five others, and booked under sections 504 and 506 of the IPC, the SC/ST Act, and relevant provisions of Uttar Pradesh’s anti-conversion law, the Deputy Police Superintendent of Siddharthnagar said.

Shailesh Kumar got married to Lakshmi four years ago. However, on the night of May 31 this year, Lakshmi suddenly went missing from their home, taking with her Rs 55,000 and gold jewellery.

The family members immediately reported the incident to the police station and demanded action. Two days later, it was discovered that Sazaullah, a resident of Siswan village in the district, had befriended Shailesh's wife on Facebook and taken her to Mumbai along with some accomplices.

In Mumbai, they carried out a religious conversion and changed her name from Lakshmi to Muskaan. Subsequently, Sazaullah married ‘Muskaan’ in a nikah ceremony.

The relatives of the young woman reached Mumbai and, after counselling both parties, managed to bring her back to her family home.

Shailesh told Aaj Tak/India Today that he got to know of Sazaullah’s connection with his wife after he spoke to Lakshmi’s cousin. The cousin revealed that Lakshmi used to chat on Facebook with a boy from Siswan village, and the two also talked over the phone.

Shailesh also said that Lakshmi had contacted her uncle, who lives in Kalyan, from Nashik before she was taken to Mumbai. Lakshmi reportedly told her uncle that she was taken to Mumbai forcibly and wanted to leave. After that, her phone was switched off.