JOIN USJustice K T Sankaran said a perusal of reports of various agencies revealed that about 3,000 to 4,000 religious conversions of girls in the name of love had taken place in the state in the last four years alone. Among these, 1,600 conversions had taken place in the northern districts of Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasargod.
The judge made these observations while rejecting the anticipatory bail application moved by two youths who were accused of feigning love and trying to force girls of a private college in Pathanamthitta to convert to Islam. The police who investigated the matter had initially submitted a report suggesting the presence of an organisation called “Love Jihad” or “Romeo Jihad”. The members of this organisation trapped girls of other religions by feigning love and forced them to convert to Islam.
However, when asked by the court to clarify, state Director-General of Police (DGP) Jacob Punnose as well as the Union Home Ministry stated that there was no organised religious conversion of such character nor an organisation called “Love Jihad.”
Justice Sankaran said the reports submitted by 14 of the 18 district superintendents of police to the DGP were conflicting. The DGP’s report stated that organisations like the NDF, Popular Front and Campus Front were indulging in such conversions. While pointing out that compulsive religious conversion was a serious crime, the court suggested that the state follow the model of other states in this regard by enacting a law.