Police traces missing girl; parents, VHP allege love jihad

Dakshina Kannada (Karnataka): An incident of parents and the VHP alleging ‘love jihad’ after the police traced a missing girl and found her staying with a youth from another community, was reported from the communally-sensitive Dakshina Kannada District in Karnataka on Wednesday.

The father of the girl has lodged a fresh complaint with the Mangaluru Police Commissioner alleging that his college-going daughter was kidnapped and converted by the youth. The VHP has alleged that it is a case of ‘love jihad.’ According to police, the girl was studying at a private college in Mangaluru and her parents had registered a missing complaint in Pandeshwar police station recently after she went incommunicado. Police tracked the missing girl and found that she was with a man called Mohammad Ashfaq.

The police checked his background and found that he is already married and has eight criminal cases against him in Vidyanagar police station in neighbouring Kasaragod city in Kerala. Senior VHP leader, Sharan Pumpwell alleged that ‘love jihad’ is becoming rampant in coastal Karnataka and the Hindu community needs to wake up.

Police said that they would record the woman’s statement, and investigate the matter to find out whether she was forced to go with the man or went on her own. More details are yet to emerge regarding the incident.