2nd minor girl detained in Moradabad 'burqa coercion' case

Bareilly: A second accused, aged 17, has been detained and sent to a juvenile home in Noida in the Moradabad case involving allegations that a Hindu girl was coerced into wearing a burqa and pressured to convert, police said Sunday. A 17-year-old girl was earlier held in the case on March 27.SP rural Kunwar Akash Singh told TOI, “The minor girl was produced in juvenile court before being sent to the facility.”The alleged incident took place on Dec 12 last year. Police said that they registered a case following a complaint by the Class 12 student’s brother. The FIR was registered under section 3 of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act against five Muslim girls, aged between 15 and 17.“My sister was talking to one of the girls whom she’d met about two months back and had been going out with regularly... These five girls who took away my sister in burqa may have had some ill intention. So, I approached police,” the complainant told TOI.A purported video of the incident was widely circulated on social media. In the minute-long clip, the girls can be seen in a narrow alley between houses. One of them is seen wearing a burqa over her dress, with the other girls trying to help her.“The accused girls and the Hindu girl are friends. All are believed to be minors. That afternoon, they were on their way to a restaurant which crosses the victim’s brother’s shop. They didn’t want him to know about it. Fearful of getting caught, the Hindu girl may have worn her friends’ burqa,” a police officer, privy to the case, had told TOI after the incident came to light.