No inquiry into Hindu-Muslim marriages: Raut

Maharashtra minister of state for home Nitin Raut today said the state government will not conduct any inquiry into marriages between Hindu girls and Muslim boys.

Addressing a press conference here today, he denied reports in a section of the press that an inquiry by the criminal investigation department had been ordered into all such marriages.

Explaining how the rumour must have gained credence, he said a calling-attention notice was tabled in the legislative assembly on the last day of the state budget session about a soured love affair between a Hindu girl and a Muslim boy.

"The boy brought the girl to Mumbra and disappeared," he said. "The girl sought help from the boy's brother, who escorted her to her parents' home. She lodged a police complaint against the boy and the police arrested him."

Raut said the government had no power to interfere in a marriage between two adults. "There is no law under which the government can conduct an inquiry into marriages which are legal, performed between two consenting adults of any religion or caste," he said.

The minister said certain elements were trying to disturb communal harmony in the state for furthering their political agenda with an eye on the forthcoming assembly election. "After their defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, these communal forces are making desperate efforts to disturb communal harmony in the state," he alleged.

Raut warned that the state government would put down with a heavy hand any effort to communalise state politics.