Lucknow, December 7: Officials said on Tuesday, December 5, that three brothers have been charged by the police in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, for allegedly sexually harassing a woman and her daughter after forcing them to convert to Islam. The father of one of the accused men, who was taken into custody earlier, allegedly lured the woman's husband to convert his religion.

The victim, a sweet shop owner, was allegedly promised better economic opportunities if he adopted the new faith, according to the FIR. UP Muslim Man Marries Woman After Faking Identity, Forces Her to Convert, Allegedly Rapes Daughter; Arrested.

According to the police complaint, the three sons of Mushtaq Ali reportedly started extorting money from the two women, forcing them to convert, and sexually harassing them after the woman's husband died. The victim woman filed a formal complaint at the Colonelganj police station on Tuesday, alleging that she and her daughter were "forced" to convert.

She said that they had experienced sexual harassment from the three accused—Akram, Junaid, and Faizan. The charges include the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion Act as well as sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) related to rioting (147), inflicting pain (323), malicious insult (504), wrongful imprisonment (342), and sexual harassment (354A). Uttar Pradesh: 833 Arrested in Cases of Religious Conversion Since November 2020.

The police emphasised that because Ali had died away, no charge had been filed against him. According to Assistant Commissioner of Police (Shivkuti) Rajesh Kumar Yadav, two of the accused are still at large and one, Akram, was taken into custody on Tuesday night. The woman stated that the conversion reportedly occurred during the last year and that she had been trying to register the FIR for a while without being successful.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 07, 2023 10:30 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).