State government sets up panel to study legal aspects for law on 'love jihad'

The Maharashtra Government has set up a sevenmember committee chaired by the state director general of police DGP in order to study the legal aspects of a new law against forced conversions and cases of love jihad PTI reportedAs per PTI the committee includes secretaries of the women and child welfare minority affairs law and judiciary social justice and special assistance departments and deputy secretaries of the home departmentThe committee will study the prevailing situation in the state and suggest steps to tackle the complaints of love jihad and forced conversions according to the Government Resolution GR issued late on FridayIt will also look at legal aspects and the laws framed in other states PTI reportedAccordingly the committee will recommend legislation to prevent forced conversions and instances of love jihadLove jihad is a term used by rightwing activists and outfits to allege a conspiracy by Muslim men to try and convert Hindu women to Islam through marriage PTI reportedLast year the issue of love jihad was raised by the ruling Mahayuti in the stateNavi Mumbai Cab driver arrested for girlfriendrsquos murderA 27yearold taxi driver has been arrested for killing his female partner and disposing of her body near Uran Preliminary investigations suggest that the deceased used to board the share taxi of the accused to her workplace Due to regular meetings the two developed feelings for each other and got into a relationshipMinister Mangal Prabhat Lodha met the victimrsquos family on Monday and consoled them He also assured them that they would do their best to punish the guiltyInteracting with the media Lodha said ldquoThis is the third such incident in Mumbai So the police will not ignore it The issue of Rohingyas and Bangladeshis living illegally in Mumbai will have to be settled Otherwise a young Hindu woman will not be able to get out of the house safelyThe guardian minister as a component of the state government will try to bring justice to Poonam Shirsagar If strict action is not taken against the accused within 24 hours there will be a violent agitationrdquo he saidAccording to the police the deceased Poonam Chandrakant Shirsagar was a resident of Sathe Nagar in Mankhurd She lived with her mother and brother and has two sisters who are married Poonam used to work as a domestic help at Sandhurst RoadldquoMy husband was a BMC employee and died 11 years ago After his death my daughter started working and used to run the house She used to leave the house around 9 am and return by 5 pm On April 18 she left for work but didnrsquot return As she used to work overtime we thought she would be late We started looking for her later On April 19 we went to the workplace where they told us that she had come in the previous day and left on timerdquo Poonamrsquos mother Laxmi saidWith agency inputs