Basti:

A 34-year-old Muslim man converted to Hinduism to marry his girlfriend with whom he had an affair for the past 10 years, changing his name from Saddam to Shivshankar, police said on Monday.

SHO of Kotwali police station Devendra Singh said that three days ago, the woman had lodged a case against Saddam and his family members in the police station for rape, forcing her to have an abortion, raping her on the pretext of marriage and threatening to kill her.

But now both have married of their own free will, Devendra Singh said.

According to the police, Saddam Hussain, a resident of Nagar Bazaar, was in a love affair with a woman (about 30 years old) from the same village for about 10 years.

Since both of them belonged to different religions, marriage was not possible. The girl pressured him into marriage many times, but Saddam’s family was not ready to accept her, he said.

Troubled by this, the girl had given an application to the Superintendent of Police Basti three days ago and accused the youth Saddam of rape, forcing an abortion and threatening to kill.

On the order of the SP, the police had registered a case against Saddam and his family in the city police station, Devendra Singh said.

On Sunday night, Saddam and the girl got married in a temple in the city market as per Hindu customs and Saddam changed his name to Shivshankar Soni.

Both took seven rounds in the temple and discussed spending their lives together.

Both told the police that they had taken this decision on their own. “We were in a love affair for the last ten years,” they had said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Shravasti:

Five people died after a speeding SUV hit an autorickshaw from behind, with both vehicles falling into a ditch along the road in Uttar Pradesh’s Shravasti district on Saturday, police said.

The crash left six other persons, including a woman, critically injured and they have been hospitalised for treatment, a senior officer said.

Superintendent of Police Ghanshyam Chaurasia said the incident took place around 12 pm at a place between Gilaula and Ikouna on the Bahraich-Shravasti road.

“An autorickshaw full of passengers going at normal speed from Bahraich towards Ikouna was hit from behind by a vehicle going at a speed of 90-100 kmph,” the district police chief told PTI.

He said the collision was so strong that the auto flew in the air and fell into the ditch on the side of the road, while the SUV also lost balance and fell into the same ditch.

“There were nine people, including the driver, in the auto and two in the car. Two people travelling in the auto died on the spot and three died during treatment at Ikouna CHC,” he said.

Chaurasia said the condition of the remaining six injured was critical and they were referred to the district hospital for better treatment.

“I (SP) reached the spot to oversee the rescue operation and to the district hospital to inquire about the condition of the injured,” he said.

The police identified the dead as Lallan Pandey (42), Ayodhya Prasad (60), Rafiq (50), Muralidhar (42) and Nanke Yadav (30).

Among the six injured, there is one woman and five men. The hospital administration has been asked to provide better treatment to the injured, the SP said.

Post-mortem of the bodies will be conducted, the police said, adding that legal proceedings in the case have been initiated.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)