Kerala woman’s marriage to Muslim annulled after allegations of Islamic State hand in her conversion
While her parents claim she was forced to convert to Islam, she and her husband have denied this and want to fight the order.
A day after the Kerala High Court annulled the marriage of a 24-year-old Hindu woman to a Muslim man, the couple has vowed to fight against the “denial of justice”, reported The Indian Express. The High Court bench on Wednesday declared the marriage between Shefin Jahan, 27, and 24-year-old Akhila, after her parents complained she had been forced to convert to Islam and change her name to Hadiya, which she denies. The court had also ordered a probe into the allegations that she was forced to convert by people having links with the Islamic State.
The couple said they had married in December last year. However, the bench said the bride’s parents were not present or had not given their consent for the marriage and so it was declared “null and void”. The High Court ruled that an important decision like marriage in a woman’s life can only be taken with the active involvement of her parents.
“The marriage which is alleged to have been performed is a sham and is of no consequence in the eye of the law,” the court said according to The Times of India. The bench asked Akhila to return to her parents’ house.
Jahan said his wife had not committed any crime. “She has taken a religion and handpicked a husband of her choice,” he said. “When she was produced in court three times during the period, I was not even allowed to speak to her. I will fight against this injustice.”
Akhila was a student of Bachelor of Homeopathic Medicine and Surgery course in Salem. In January 2016, her father had filed a Habeas Corpus petition claiming his daughter was forcibly converted to Islam by her Muslim flatmates. However, when the matter came up for hearing, Akhila said she had willingly converted to Islam and wanted to pursue Islamic studies at Satyasarani, reported India Today.
However, when her father was not convinced with her reply, he filed another Habeas Corpus petition which came up for hearing in January this year, the report added. Akhila produced her marriage documents in the High Court on Wednesday.