Members of right-wing outfits on Sunday allegedly beat up three men in Baghpat court premises in Uttar Pradesh claiming “love jihad”, ANI reported. One of the three men was reportedly set to marry a Hindu woman at the court when the incident took place.

“Love jihad” is a term frequently used by Hindutva organisations to allege a conspiracy by Muslim men to marry women from other religions solely to convert them to Islam.

The couple had met in Punjab and began a relationship in 2016. When their families objected to their marriage, the couple fled to Uttar Pradesh to get married in the Baghpat court, The Times of India reported.

When the couple was sitting with their lawyer, workers of right-wing outfits reportedly barged inside the room and began questioning them, before a scuffle broke out. A video of the assault was shared heavily on social media on Sunday. According to News18, those who thrashed the three men belonged to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Hindu Yuva Vahini.

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Uttar Pradesh Police soon reached the spot and brought the situation under control. An abduction case has been filed against the three men in Punjab’s Barnala, Baghpat Superintendent of Police Jai Prakash told The Times of India.

Meanwhile, a case has been filed under the Indian Penal Code against unidentified people for assaulting the three men. Police is examining the footage of the incident to identify the men involved.

“Not only was the man trying to fool the girl by marrying her as a part of his “love jihad” scheme, but he also had plans to sell the girl for Rs 50,000,” Nitin Chaudhary, Baghpat district president of Hindu Yuva Vahini told The Times of India.

However, the police refused to call the incident a case of “love jihad”. “It is too early to comment on what exactly happened, we are probing the whole incident,” Prakash told ANI. “Everything should not be linked to “love jihad”.”