ALMORA/DEHRADUN: A 30-year-old man from the minority community was arrested for allegedly converting a 40-year-old married Hindu woman against her wishes on Sunday evening in Ranikhet city of Almora district.

It's the first case in the hill district registered under the Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion Act.

Police said Mohammed Chand, who runs a barber shop in the town, met the woman about a year ago.

Two months ago, he divorced his wife with whom he had two children.

The woman had three children from her first husband, a labourer in the area who lodged a police complaint.

SHO Ranikhet, Hemchandra Pant, who found the woman at Chand's house on Sunday evening, told TOI he was arrested following a complaint that she'd been missing from home since June 29.

"The woman told her husband she was going to the market but never returned.

On July 1, her husband lodged a missing person complaint.

Police found that Chand had allegedly raped her on the pretext of marriage before converting her to Islam," said Pant.

The police officer said Chand was booked on charges of rape, abduction of woman to force her to marry a person against her will, criminal intimidation and illegal conversion under IPC sections and Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion Act.

"He was produced before the local court on Sunday which sent him to jail," said Pant.

(With inputs fror Kalyan Das)(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)