The Muzaffarnagar police on Sunday gave a clean chit to a youth, who was accused of kidnapping and forcibly converting an 18-year-old girl. The statement by the police came after the girl denied that Pervez, her alleged boyfriend, kidnapped her or tried to convert her. The youth and the girl belong to different communities.

The case came to light after BJP MP Yogi Adityanath raised the issue of ‘love jihad.’ According to the police, the girl, in her statement in a local court, said she was not kidnapped or raped as alleged by her parents. She also said that she had gone with Pervez out of her own will.

The girl and Pervez had eloped on August 25, allegedly because of opposition from their families to their relationship. The girl’s family had lodged a complaint against six persons, including Pervez, his mother Praveen and brother Savaiz for kidnapping the girl.