Overview

• On May 29, BJP MLA Usha Thakur urged that those convicted under the state’s anti–love jihad law should have their eyes gouged out and hands chopped off under Sharia provisions
• Thakur also called for the confiscation of all property from convicted individuals and said they should be forced to live as beggars to deter future offenses
• Earlier this month, Madhya Pradesh police formed a Special Investigation Team after a Bhopal rape and blackmail case to probe alleged 'love jihad' incidents in Indore and Bhopal
• Thakur characterized accused perpetrators as “characterless criminals” claiming to perform ‘sawab’ (virtuous work) through interfaith marriages
• Right-wing groups use the term 'love jihad' to allege that Muslim men lure non-Muslim women into marriage for conversion, and the state government’s actions reflect a hardening approach