Kochi (Kerala), Dec 9: The Kerala High Court Wednesday said the state government should formulate laws to prevent forced religious conversions.

The observations were made by Justice K.T. Shankaran after going through the report filed by Director General of Police Jacob Punnoose on ‘love jihad’.

The case initially came up when the parents of two young women MBA students filed a complaint with the police that their daughters went missing. They also filed a habeas corpus in the High Court.

When the women arrived in the court with their husbands, the court asked them to go with their parents even though the women reportedly said that they had embraced Islam out of their own free will.

But after a three-week stay with the parents, the women turned against their husbands in the court. They accused the men of converting them by force. Several media reported about the so-called ‘Love Jihad’ and its activities.

A petition was filed by the two men in the High Court. The men – Shahensha and Sirajudheen- were accused of forcefully converting the two women to Islam by feigning love. It was while considering this case that the High Court directed the state police to investigate whether an organisation called ‘Love Jihad’ or ‘Romeo Jihad’ was functioning in the state.

The state DGP Jacob Punnoose stated that there was no organisation called "Love Jihad" functioning in Kerala. The central Home Ministry also repeated the same in its report submitted in the High Court. The police also reportedly promised the court that the two boys involved in the case would not be arrested till December 17th. The case will be considered on December 17.

Observing that there are indications of "forceful" religious conversions under the guise of "love" in Kerala, the state high court today suggested the government to consider enacting a law to prohibit such "deceptive" acts.

The court said that forced conversion is a grave crime and it is the duty of the state government to see it is stopped.

"Under the pretext of love there cannot be any compulsive, deceptive conversion," the court said.

Justice K T Sankaran made the observations dismissing anticipatory bail applications by two accused in activities of 'Love Jihad', allegedly involving converting girls from other religions to Islam after enticing them to marry Muslim boys.

After perusing the case diary in 'Love Jihad' cases, he held there were indications of forceful religious conversions. From some of the police reports, it was clear there was a 'concerted' effort to convert girls of a particular religion to another with the 'blessings of some outfits', he said.