Even though UP has enacted the Love Jihad law, horrifying cases of the practice still continue to stream in from the state.
A 17-year-old girl has been abducted from Agra, Uttar Pradesh under the cover of a burqa. CCTV footage showed one Mehtab Rana, who’s married and has six children, leading the girl away. The girl, who hails from the Hindu community, has her face hidden with a burqa.
The accused has been identified as one Mehtab Rana. He is a resident of Rasulpur Aurangabad village in Meerut, which falls under the jurisdiction of Bhavnapur police station. He is married and a father of 6 children. When the police analysed the CCTV footage, they spotted Mehtab with a burqa-clad girl. In the video, the victim can be seen walking with the accused.
Incredibly, this is the third time that Mehtab Rana has abducted the same girl. Mehtab was a co-worker of the victim’s father at a hotel. The accused would live in Taraganj Iske area, where the victim resided. He would frequently visit her house and thus managed to trap the girl. Police said that the accused had earlier kidnapped the girl in 2018. During that time, he had taken the victim to his house in Meerut. When the case was lodged, the police had arrested Mehtab’s brother.
After the latest abduction, the police have arrested the wife and two sisters-in-law of Mehtab Rana on Friday. At the same time, one of the accused’s brothers was also taken into custody and interrogated by the cops. The cops are conducting raids at several locations in the Meerut-NCR region. A team of New Agra police has also been camping at Meerut to trace Mehtab Rana. The victim’s family has dubbed the incident as a case of ‘love jihad’ and has demanded action against others who are involved in the crime.
