The judge of a fast-track court in Bareilly while pronouncing the verdict in a case of interfaith marriage, in his 42-page order, explained in detail what love jihad is. Additional district and sessions Judge Ravi Kumar Diwakar sentenced the 25-year-old to jail, even after the woman changed her statement in the court alleging that her initial disposition had come after “right-wing men put pressure on her parents”.

The judge framed the case before him as an “example of love jihad,” adding that such a case involves “deceit and religious conversion”, reports Times of India.

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The case originated in May 2023 when a young woman lodged a complaint with the police, saying that the accused, Mohd Aalim Ahmed, then 23 introduced himself as Anand Kumar when they met during a coaching class in Bareilly in 2022.

The couple got married in a temple on March 12, 2022, but the woman later discovered his real identity and claimed she had been misled into the marriage.

Following the incident, Aalim was charged with several crimes, including rape under section 376-2n, criminal intimidation under section 506 and voluntarily causing hurt under section 323 of the IPC. His father was also charged with criminal intimidation under section 504 and sentenced to two years in jail.

The woman who had made a statement against him on July 31, 2024, however, later didn’t appear in court. After a warrant was issued, she was produced on September 19 this year, but she changed her statement in favour of Aalim.

However, the court refused to consider her updated statement, stating that she was influenced by the accused.

The woman had said that she had registered the FIR after right-wing groups pressured her parents.

The judge who had ordered a videographic survey of Varanasi’s Gyanvapi mosque complex and sealing of the wuzukhana (ablution area) in 2022 said, “The primary aim of ‘love jihad’ is to alter demographics and stir international tensions, driven by radical factions within a religious group. Essentially, it refers to the deceptive conversion of non-Muslim women to Islam through fraudulent marriages”.

He further added, “These illegal conversions are carried out by certain extremist individuals who either engage in or support such activities. However, its important to note these actions are not reflective of the entire religious community. The process of ‘love jihad’ involves significant financial resources, and in this case, it is likely that foreign funding is involved”.

At one point, the judge in his order also noted that the woman was “living separately from her parents in a rented house and using an expensive Android phone, despite being unemployed”, raising the question of foreign funding.

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Giving a detailed analysis of his on ‘love jihad’, he further noted that “in love jihad, muslim men, through marriage, convert Hindu women to Islam in a planned manner. They marry Hindu women by showing love and then convert them…”

“Love jihad required a significant amount of money. Therefore, it cannot be denied that love jihad is funded by foreign funding in this case,” he added.