After protests & mahapanchayat, runaway couple found in Bijnor, ‘husband’ faces abduction charges | Meerut News

Strap: Couple Will Be Produced In A Court On Friday
Bijnor: Days after a saffron outfit threatened to burn a police station after elopement and marriage of a Hindu girl to a man from a different faith, police on Thursday found the couple in Bijnor. They will now be produced before a court on Friday which will take a call on the case. The girl, 23, had left her home days before her marriage was to be solemnized on June 18. The family members had approached Bijnor’s Nangal Soti police station alleging that she was kidnapped by a man of another community. A case of abduction was then filed against the youth.
However, a week later, police received a video in which the girl had sought protection from her family members saying that she has married a man of her choice.
“The girl might have married the accused. The lawyer of the youth contacted us and provided a video showing that the girl has married him, without any pressure. They have also sought police protection. We have asked them to produce documents about their marriage,” Bijnor’s superintendent of police (SP) Lakshmi Nivas Mishra had said.
The matter also took a communal turn when a member of a lesser-known saffron outfit allegedly threatened to set a police station on fire if the girl is not recovered and sent back home. In a video, Vishwa Hindu Mahasangh’s state general secretary Rajni Jauhar can be heard saying, “Police are supporting the minority community. Family members of the girl are making rounds of police officials but they are not paying heed to them. Wedding of the girl was slated for June 18. Had the girl belonged to a minority community, police would have recovered her immediately. If she is not recovered, people will come on streets and a police station will be set ablaze.”
Earlier on Sunday, scores of villagers led by Hindu Vahini and Hindu Jagran Manch staged a ‘dharna’ and threatened to “retaliate” if the police failed to act.
Addressing the gathering, district general secretary of Hindu Jagran Manch Abhishek Tyagi said, “A youth of minority community has abducted the girl. Her family members have filed a case against the accused. Family members of the girl are making rounds of police officials. If police don’t find the girl, we will retaliate. We will not tolerate ‘Love Jihad’ here.”
Five days later, on Thursday, police found the couple in Bijnor. The SP said, “Two teams were sent to Allahabad and Lucknow to recover the girl as her location was last traced there. But, later, they were found in Bijnor on Thursday. They will be produced before court which is to decide the matter on Friday.