The young Indian girl who reported that she had been a victim of a Muslim conspiracy to convert Hindu girls has taken it all back, according to Al Jazeera.
The conspiracy has been called "love jihad" by Hindu conservatives, and they may have thought they had the poster child for their cause.
Bharatiya Janata Party, India's leading party, said that Muslim boys are getting paid for a scam. The boys get the girls to fall in love, get married and then convert to Islam. The boys are compensated depending on the caste of their conquest, the head of Rashtra Sevika Samiti, part of right-wing affiliate Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, told Al Jazeera.
A 20-year-old Hindu girl, called "S" by Al Jazeera, originally claimed that she had been kidnapped, gang raped and forced to convert to Islam, but on Monday S reportedly "feared for her life" and confessed that her parents forced her to lie about her relationship with Muslim Kaleem Sheikh. S has sought protection by authorities from "honor killing" and police in Meerut have filed charges against the girl's parents, according to Al Jazeera.
Sheikh and eight others had been arrested due to S's claims in August, reported Al Jazeera.
S told Al Jazeera that she met Sheikh through a mutual friend. "When I first met him, he told me that he liked me and wanted to be friends with me," S said. "It did bother me that he was a Muslim but he was so caring and appreciative of me that I started meeting him more."
After a few months, the two fell in love and Sheikh asked S to marry him, but inter-religious coupling is still frowned upon in India. "By now, it did not matter to me. He had even told me that I can continue to practice Hinduism and visit temples even after we get married," S told Al Jazeera.
Before the marriage could take place, S said she found out she was pregnant. "The doctor told me that I had an ectopic pregnancy and it had to be removed immediately," S told Al Jazeera. "We could only afford a government hospital. Sheikh and I registered as husband and wife and the surgery was conducted."
When S went home, her mother saw the sutures and S started having problems at home, according to Al Jazeera. Her father partnered with right-wing groups and went to the police to report the "love jihad."
Sheikh has since been in jail for two months and his family has stated they want nothing to do with him because he violated rules against pre-marital sex and by-choice marriage.
"See, my life is over," S told Al Jazeera. "Wherever I live, I will always be taunted about this whole incident. They say that my body and womb is impure now I want to have a face-to-face conversation with Sheikh to know what he wants. See, when you are in love with someone, you are equally responsible. If we are wrong, we both should be punished. Why should I let him suffer all his life for nothing?"
