Kerala police asked to probe conversions on pretext of love

KOCHI - The Kerala High Court Wednesday directed the police to prepare a report in three weeks on instances of women in colleges being lured into embracing Islam by their classmates professing love.

Justice K.T. Shankaran asked the director general of police to conduct a detailed study after he denied anticipatory bail to two people, who allegedly forcibly converted two of their women classmates at a college in Pathanamthitta district after professing their love to the girls.

Conversions to Islam on the pretext of love, now commonly referred to as ‘love jihad’, came to the limelight when the parents of these two girls in Pathanamthitta complained earlier this month that their daughters were cheated by two Muslims who converted them after luring them by promises of love.

The court also asked the police to inquire if these conversions had the backing of any organisation and if those involved were getting paid for it. It directed the police to look into similar incidents in the past three years.

Shankaran also ordered that a letter be sent to the Union Home Ministry regarding such cases and asked the police to verify if similar incidents had been reported in other states as well.