The Allahabad High Court in a recent case granted bail to a man framed under the provisions of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020 for allegedly raping a woman and forcing her to change her religion.
“All of a sudden, after coming to this Ordinance into existence, she got aware about her rights. Her mental thinking exposes her conduct,” the Court stated.
A Single Judge Bench of Justice Rahul Chaturvedi noted that until now, the victim has not been converted to another religion and thus the presumption of Section 12 would not be applied in the present case.
Factual Background
The accused and the victim used to reside in the same mohalla in Mahoba district and were engaged in a physical relationship for the last four years.
Case of the Victim
The victim alleged that the applicant took indecent and vulgar pictures and videos of her and used them as an instrument of blackmail in order to compel her to stay in the physical relations.
Further, it was brought on record that on December 8, last year she got married to another person and went to Delhi. On the day she came back home, she was with the accused who forced her to engage in physical relations and to convert her religion.
Observation of the Court
The Court took note of the age of the victim, 19 years old, and also noted that she has not attained any formal education.
“She resides in the same locality where the applicant resides. In such circumstances, it is proposition that in a small city, like Mahoba she was not aware about the background of the applicant or about his religion that too for four good years, the Court added. It was further noted that no obscene still photographs or video said to have been used for blackmailing the victim. The Court also took into consideration the fact that the victim herself admitted that she was in a relationship with the accused for the last four years, and that even after her marriage, she came to Mohaba from Delhi, and thereafter went with the accused to Orai, where she alleged that she was pressurized into changing her religion."
Hence, Court was of the opinion that the victim became aware of her rights only after the Ordinance came into existence, in the words of the Court,
“Cumulative effect of all the above factors clearly indicate that the victim was direly interested to remain in the company of applicant, and even after her marriage she wanted to maintain the relationship with him.”
Case Details
Before: Allahabad High Court
Case Title: Munna Khan v. State of UP
Coram: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Rahul Chaturvedi
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