Forced conversion case: UP police ‘rescue’ missing teen from J&K; accused arrested

Bijnor: In an alleged forced religious conversion case, Bijnor police safely “rescued” a 17-year-old from Kupwara, J&K. He was brought back alongside the primary accused, Mohd Waseem, who has been arrested for allegedly forcing the teen to convert after luring him with the promise of marriage to his daughter, police said Thursday.

Bijnor SP, Abhishek Jha, said a case was registered against Waseem at Kotwali on May 18 under sections 3 and 5 (1) of the UP Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Act, 2021, following a complaint by Krishna Kumar, a resident of Khanjahanpur Bahadurpur Garhi in Bijnor. Waseem belongs to Kaziwala village in the UP district.

In his complaint, Kumar alleged that his son had gone to Kupwara with Waseem to learn salon work. “During his stay, the teenager was subjected to forced religious conversion and renamed ‘Mohammad Hamza’,” Jha added.

Following the formal complaint, a police team from Bijnor left for Kupwara two days ago to bring back Kumar’s son. During questioning, the 17-year-old told cops the “conversion took place at a mosque in Kupwara’s Manigah area”. Incidentally, the Kashmir mosque claimed “he adopted the religion voluntarily”.

Kumar had said: “My son is a minor. He passed his high school examination in 2023. He returned home on May 5 and left again for Kashmir on May 10. On May 17, we received videos and a letter issued by a local mosque claiming that he had ‘converted’. We were shocked after watching the videos.”

Purported videos of “conversion” later circulated on social media, following which local right-wing groups became active and met district officials. According to sources, ATS and other agencies are also investigating the matter.