How Uttarakhand made teenage romance dangerous – especially for Muslims

In May last year, two young men from Himachal Pradesh travelled to Chakrata town in Uttarakhand with their woman friend.

Early morning on May 23, the group was accosted by members of the Bajrang Dal and another Hindutva vigilante group, Rudra Sena, who accused the men, Shahrukh, 19, and Showkeen, 20, both Muslim hairdressers from Paonta Sahib, of kidnapping the Hindu woman. They were humiliated on camera. The video garnered more than two lakh views on Facebook.

Instead of acting against the attackers, the police arrested the men under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, or POCSO Act. They were charged under Sections 5 and 6 of the Act, which pertain to penetrative sexual assault, in addition to sections of the Indian Penal Code on procuring a minor and kidnapping.

This was not unusual.

Just earlier that week, in another Uttarakhand town, Purola, a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh had accused a Muslim man and his Hindu accomplice of trying to abduct a 14-year-old Hindu girl. The men were arrested under the POCSO Act. Hindutva vigilantes used the incident to whip up frenzy over “love jihad”, claiming Muslims were conspiring to lure unsuspecting Hindu women into romantic relationships to ultimately convert them to Islam. Many Muslim...

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