Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh), Jan 1

The Gorakhpur police arrested a man on the charges of kidnapping and forcibly marrying a 17-year-old girl.

Both the man and the girl belong to different communities.

According to Sahjanwa Station House Officer (SHO), Santosh Yadav, the girl had been allegedly kidnapped in November.

On the written complaint of her father, a search operation was launched and the girl was finally traced and rescued on Wednesday.

Accused Mansoor, 26, a resident of Hamirpur district, was arrested from the Bhiti Rawat area, the police officer said.

The accused claimed that the girl was an adult on the basis of her Aadhaar card and asked the police not to interfere in the matter.

The girl's father presented her high school certificate, which showed her age to be 17 years.

"The girl has been sent for a medical check-up. As per her high school marksheet, she is 17-years-old," the SHO said.

The man has been booked under Sections 363 (kidnapping) and 366 (abducting or inducing woman to compel her for marriage) of the IPC and the section of the new law on forced conversion will be added after the medical report confirms her to be a minor.

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