MP's Indore Tops State In ‘Love Jihad’ Cases, 74 Out Of 283 Registered

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Indore has reported the highest number of ‘love jihad’ cases under Freedom of Religion Act in Madhya Pradesh, with 74 cases registered between January 1, 2020 and July 15, 2025.

The state government has given a reply to a question raised by an MLA seeking information about the case registered under love jihad across the state. As many as 283 cases have been registered across the state in which maximum numbers of cases are registered in Indore and Bhopal.

BJP MLA from Khategaon (Dewas) Ashish Govind Sharma had filed a question in which he had asked about the number of cases registered in love jihad, against girls who are under the age of 18 between January 1, 2020 and July 15, 2025.

More acquittals than conviction have marked the first five years of the state’s stringent anti-religious conversion law – which is often dubbed as anti-Love Jihad law of the BJP-ruled central Indian state.

While 197 or 70% of the 283 registered cases are under trial in different courts of 55 districts in the state, in as many as 86 or 30% cases, the accused have either been acquitted, convicted or police investigations are underway.

Out of those 86 cases, the accused have been acquitted in 50, while the court convicted and awarded punishments in just eight cases. As per state police sources privy to probe such cases, lack of evidence along with many female victims turning hostile during the course of trial, has led to more acquittals than convictions.

Indore tops with 74 cases

Out of 283 cases, the largest number is registered in Malwa-Nimar region, while 74 cases have been registered in Indore. Bhopal -33, Ujjain -12, Khandwa-12, Khargone-10, Dhar-13 and Chhatarpur-11 are major districts where more than 10 cases are registered.

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