Mob sets Muslim man’s house on fire for eloping with Hindu woman

An enraged mob in India vandalised and set fire to a Muslim man's home in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly district after he reportedly eloped with a Hindu woman on July 26.

The man identified as 24-year-old Saddam Ali eloped with a 21-year-old Hindu neighbour on Friday night.

Local police initiated a search for the couple after the woman's family filed a complaint alleging that their neighbour had abducted their daughter.

The police were able to locate the couple on August 1 and returned the girl to her family while Ali was detained at the police station for a day.

The local residents and the family attacked the police station, alleging that the police had shown leniency towards Ali and had not imprisoned him.

The woman's family members, along with other villagers, attacked the man's locked house and vandalised the grocery store owned by the Muslim family. They threw household items onto the streets and set them ablaze.

When the police arrived at the scene to control the situation, the mob attacked them and damaged a police jeep.

The situation descended into chaos until a heavy contingent of police arrived to disperse the crowd.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Anurag Arya stated that raids are being conducted to apprehend those responsible for burning Ali's house, while police presence has been increased in the area to prevent further escalation of tensions between the two communities.

He said that Ali remains in police custody, but rumours of him being protected at the police station have sparked unrest in the village.

The BJP government in UP banned interfaith marriages by introducing Unlawful Religious Conversion Ordinance infamously known as the "love jihad" law in November 2020.

The legislation criminalised forced religious conversions through fraud or under promises of marriage.

Recently, the UP assembly amended the anti-conversion law to impose stricter penalties on those forcing religious conversions. 

The offense is now categorised as a more serious crime, with imprisonment increased to 20 years or life sentence.