An interfaith couple was allegedly assaulted inside a court in Madhya Pradesh’s Rewa district, The Indian Express reported on Friday.

A Muslim man and a Hindu woman had gone to the court to register their marriage. The incident took place after the woman, who was wearing a burqa, revealed her name.

Suspecting a case of “love jihad”, some lawyers demanded to see the man’s Aadhaar card. They allegedly assaulted him after finding out that he was a Muslim, the newspaper quoted the police as saying.

“Love jihad” is a Hindutva conspiracy theory that accuses Muslim men of being part of an organised plot to trick Hindu women into romantic relationships to ultimately convert them to Islam. The Union home ministry has told Parliament that Indian law has no provision defining such a term.

“The woman had a Hindu name but was dressed in a burqa, so they got angry,” Civil Lines Station House Officer Kamlesh Sahu told the newspaper. “She belongs to an upper caste family. They were being roughed up and pushed around.”

The police said that they intervened and saved the couple from the attackers. The woman was taken to a safe house.

Vivek Kumar, the additional superintendent of police, told The Indian Express that a first information report has been registered against unidentified persons for assaulting the man.

“He has come forward with the complaint,” Kumar was quoted as saying. “We are looking into the role of lawyers as well.”

No arrests have been made in the matter so far and no counter-complaint was filed against the man by the lawyers, the police said.

Advocate D S Ojha, the chief of the Rewa Bar Association, claimed that the lawyers were not involved in the alleged assault and that they were protesting in the premises in a separate matter related to a proposed legislation.

This was the second such case of alleged attack reported in the state this month.

On February 7, an interfaith couple who were at a court in Bhopal to register their marriage was allegedly attacked by members of Hindutva organisations. The man was assaulted and accused of “love jihad”.

The man was subsequently arrested by the police on charges of forcing the woman to convert.

Earlier this month, the Madhya Pradesh High Court had directed the state government to provide protection to another interfaith couple living in Gwalior after they faced threats, The Times of India reported on February 7.

The court ordered police protection for the couple to ensure that they could safely travel from their home to the marriage registrar’s office.

Also read: How Indian law is trying to make it impossible for interfaith couples to marry