‘Love jihad' threat to nation's integrity, says court, gives man 7-yr jail sentence
A Yamunanagar court has sentenced a man to seven years of rigorous imprisonment for sexually assaulting and intimidating a minor Hindu girl to coerce her into a relationship with a Muslim juvenile, terming the case one of 'love jihad'.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on the convict and said such acts were 'a potential threat' to the nation's sovereignty and integrity.
While acknowledging that 'love jihad' is not a legal term under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita or the
Pocso Act
, the court described it as a 'purported campaign by Muslim men to convert non-Muslim women to Islam by pretending to be in love.'
In Nov last year, a 14-yearold girl filed a complaint at City Yamunanagar police station, naming Shahbaj and a juvenile.
She alleged the boy had stalked her on her way to school while Shahbaj pressured her to befriend him.
The FIR invoked sections 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) and 351(2) (criminal intimidation) of BNS, and sections 17 (abetment), 8 (sexual assault) and 12 (sexual harassment of a child) under Pocso. The defence counsel, SS Nehra, argued that the accused was falsely implicated.
However, additional sessions judge Ranjana Aggarwal, in her July 17 order, said Shahbaj systematically tried to force an interfaith relationship through 'allurement and inducement.' The court awarded him four years under Pocso Section 8, two years under Section 12, and one year under BNS Section 351(2), with fines totalling Rs 1 lakh. All sentences will run consecutively
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The Supreme Court's reluctance this year to examine the legality of the directive on QR codes leaves the door open for future abuses. This order, like last year's directive on names, lacks legal basis and perpetuates a climate of fear. The Kanwar Yatra's devotees undeniably have the right to eat and shop at establishments of their choice – but not at the cost of forcing shop owners and staff to disclose their identities, especially amid recurring violence. When two rights clashes, the solution lies in equilibrium and upholding religious freedom while safeguarding privacy and dignity. The state must ensure that logistical measures for the Yatra do not morph into instruments of profiling or intimidation. Until then, such directives will remain not just legally untenable but socially corrosive, undermining the pluralism the Constitution seeks to protect. While many still uphold the Yatra's true spirit – offering food, shelter, and flowers to pilgrims – the rising violence tarnishes its sanctity. A visible minority has hijacked perceptions of the event. The state's failure to curb this aggression risks normalising faith-based vigilantism, eroding the very pluralism the Constitution seeks to protect. Sociologist Santosh Singh has rightly argued that the Kanwar Yatra was a path of penance and pain, not spectacle and violence. 'Today, are we even listening to our gods and what they signify in essence?' he wrote in The Indian Express. The Kanwar Yatra must return to its roots – a journey of discipline, not domination. The state must enforce the law equally, ensuring that no religion enjoys a free pass for violence. Civil society, too, must resist the politicisation of faith and uphold the true essence of devotion – peace, humility and respect for all. Otherwise, what was once a sacred pilgrimage risks becoming an annual ritual of fear and division.
