Making a U-turn, the alleged victim of “love jihad” in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut district has now claimed that she was not forced to convert and marry a cleric and that her earlier statement to the contrary had been given under pressure from her own family

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The victim reached a police station in Meerut on Sunday and alleged that she faced threat to her life from her family  and sought police protection.

According to the police sources here, the woman was produced before a magistrate on Monday and her statement was recorded. She was later sent to Nari Niketan (Women’s Home) in Meerut town after she refused to return home.

“My family members were hatching a conspiracy to kill me. I cannot live with them,” she said.

The parents of the victim, however, said that she changed her statement under pressure from culprits. “The culprits had been exerting pressure on us to withdraw the complaint. They have succeeded in coercing the victim,” the parents alleged.

Ten people, including the pradhan (village chief) of Kharkhaunda village, was arrested in July this year after the woman alleged that she had been kidnapped by them and forced to convert before being married to a cleric.

She had also alleged that she had been held hostage at a religious seminary and gang-raped.

Saffron outfits had raised a hue and cry over the issue and had held a series of protests in different parts of the state against what they termed “love jihad”.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state unit chief Luxmi Kant Bajpai on Monday alleged that the police were working under pressure from the government and demanded a CBI probe into the matter. Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders said the BJP stood exposed.

“It has now become clear that the BJP had raised the issue to gain political mileage,” SP leader Rajendra Chaudhary said.