Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Responding to a party MLA’s query seeking details about ‘love jihad’ cases in the state, the government said in the assembly on Tuesday that 283 cases have been registered under the Freedom of Religion Act, and 197 of them are in court.
BJP MLA from Khategaon (Dewas) Ashish Govind Sharma had sought to know the number of ‘love jihad’ cases involving minor girls between January 1, 2020, and July 15, 2025.
More acquittals and fewer convictions have marked the first five years of the state’s stringent anti-religious conversion law, which is often dubbed the anti-Love Jihad law.
In as many as 86 or 30% cases, the accused have either been acquitted, convicted, or the police investigations are still underway. The acquittals came in 50 of these cases, while the accused was convicted and awarded punishment in just eight cases.
Lack of evidence by the prosecution in the cases and many female victims turning hostile during trial have led to more acquittals, said state police sources privy to the probe in such cases.
Indore tops with 74 cases
Out of the 283 cases, the largest number of cases is registered in the Malwa Nimar region. Indore has 74 cases, Bhopal 33, Ujjain 12, Khandwa 12, Dhar 13, and Chhatarpur with 11 are the major districts where the number of registered cases exceeds ten.
