Love Jihad Offenders to Get Upto 10-year Jail Term, Says MP Home Minister

Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra on Wednesday convened a meeting for increasing the jail term from the proposed five years to ten years for those found guilty for love jihad.

This comes after the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led Madhya Pradesh government drew flak from several quarters over the proposed Freedom of Religion (love jihad) bill.

The Home Minister Mishra while announcing a plan to bring in a bill to check instances of love jihad had said that the provision will have upto five-year jail-term for offenders. Following the meeting, it was decided that the jail term under the proposed legislation will be increased to ten years. The offenders will now be punished with imprisonment upto five to 10 years.

The provisions are part of the Freedom of Religion Bill which will be moved in the cabinet and after a nod, it will be tabled in the MP assembly during the upcoming Winter Session.

With a provision of jail term upto 10 years, the UP government had on Tuesday cleared a draft ordinance to check ‘unlawful religious conversions’ and ‘interfaith marriages’ intended at changing a girl’s religion. It also has a provision of nullifying any marriage if it was intended to alter a girl’s religion.