Madhya Pradesh: Forced Religious Conversion To Attract 10 Years In Jail

Bhopal: Religious conversion through marriage or by any other fraudulent means will attract up to 10 years of prison term and penalty of up to Rs 1 lakh under the proposed Madhya Pradesh Religious Freedom Act, an official said on Saturday.

According to a PTI report, a marriage solemnised only for the purpose of a person’s conversion will be treated as null and void, the official said.

In case a person wants to convert, he or she would be required to declare before a district magistrate at least one month in advance under the proposed law. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan held a meeting on Saturday to discuss the proposed law, a state Public Relations Department official said.

Under the proposed law, a person found to be converting another person by misleading, luring, threatening or through marriage will be prosecuted, the report said.

In the cases of religious conversion of minors, groups, or of those belonging to scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, the sentence could be up to 10 years. Blood relatives, including parents of victims of such religious conversion, can file a complaint, according to the official.