Ugandan Police Arrest Muslim Groom After Marriage To Hindu Bride

Police in Uganda have arrested Syed Sadiq, a Muslim, after he married Anju Bala in a mosque in Nsambya, Arua Municipality, on Friday according to the (Kampala) Monitor. That ceremony followed a civil ceremony before the Arua District Registrar. The bride is Hindu. Her family and the Hindu community complained to authorities that the marriage is illegal. They consider it impermissible for a Hindu to marry a non-Hindu. During the wedding ceremony the bride's family actually stormed the mosque, but they were held back by police. Then the two families filed competing complaints at the Central Police Station. The groom's family says the bride converted to Islam before the wedding. The bride's family says that if this is so, it was a forced conversion or the bride was mentally incompetent. The groom is still in jail, but the rival groups are besieging the police station arguing for and against his continued incarceration.