'Love jihad' angle surfaces in Odisha as girl alleges brainwashing, religious conversion; protest held in Bhubaneswar

At a time when ‘The Kerala Story’ premised on the contentious topic of love jihad is making waves across the country, a similar story of alleged brainwashing and religious conversion has surfaced in Odisha’s Khordha district.

A 27-year-old girl recently lodged a written complaint with Khordha Model Police station alleging that a youth brainwashed her into converting to Islam with false promise of marriage after a relationship of eight years.

In her FIR, the complainant narrated how the accused allegedly developed a love relationship with her with false identity, forced her to convert to Islam, kept physical relation with her and threatened to make her nude video viral.

The girl alleged that the accused maintained affairs with multiple girls and is set to marry another girl. On the basis of the complaint of the girl, the accused has been arrested by the police.

However, the girl later alleged that there is a threat to her life as the accused has strong political links in the state. She further alleged that the police have not added the relevant Sections against the accused as per her complaint. Meanwhile, the reaction of the police could not be obtained in this regard. 

On the other hand, a group of youths on Sunday held a demonstration in Bhubaneswar in protest against the alleged ‘love jihad’. The protestors shouted slogans against ‘love jihad’ holding placards with ‘Save Hindu girls’ and ‘Love Jihad will not be tolerated on Lord Jagannath’s land’ written on them. 

“We recently watched The Kerala Story, but never thought such an incident would happen in our neighbourhood, that too on the outskirts of the capital city, Bhubaneswar. We strongly oppose Love Jihad. We demand strong action against the accused in Khordha case and urge the administration to find out who are the masterminds behind such incidents,” demanded a protestor.