First arrest takes place under Anti-Conversion Act in Karnataka

Bengaluru, Oct 15 (IANS): Karnataka police have made their first arrest in connection with the forceful religious conversion in the city. The accused had forced his wife to convert to his religion, police said on Saturday. According to the police, 26-year-old Syed Muyeen has been accused of forcing a Hindu girl to follow Islam. The accused was in love with a 18-year-old girl, a native of Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh living with her family in the silicon valley. The accused had allegedly pressured the girl to get converted if she wished to marry him. Police said that the girl had gone to a mosque and got converted to Islam. The girl's father, a painter by profession, and her mother were suspicious about the movements of their daughter and had asked her not to make a hasty decision. On October 5, the girl did not return home. She appeared before the police a week later. The parents had lodged a case under the Anti-Conversion law in Yeshwanthpur police station in Bengaluru. After taking up the investigation, police have arrested the accused for forceful religious conversion of the girl. Home Minister Araga Jnanendra has stated that he would get all details of the case.