Woman with 3 children converts, marries Class 12 student in UP's Amroha

A 30-year-old woman with three children converted to Hinduism and married a 12th-grade student in a temple ceremony in Uttar Pradesh's Amroha district on Wednesday, police officials said.

According to Hasanpur Circle Officer Deep Kumar Pant, the woman, Shivani, was previously known as Shabnam. She has no living parents and has been married twice before.

UP is a state which has an anti-conversion law in place. The Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021 bars religious conversion through force, deceit or any other fraudulent means.

Police said they are currently reviewing the circumstances surrounding the marriage, but no legal complaints have been filed so far.

The circle officer said that Shivani first married a man in Meerut, but the marriage ended in divorce. She then married Taufiq, a resident of Saidanwali village, who was left disabled after a road accident in 2011.

Recently, she developed a relationship with a boy in Class 12 and aged around 18. Subsequently, Shabnam sought and obtained a divorce from Taufiq on Friday last week. Later, she converted to Hinduism and adopted the name Shivani.

Shiva's father, Dataram Singh, a Saidanwali resident, told reporters that he supports his son's decision and that the family is happy if the couple is happy. "We only hope that both live together peacefully," he said.