KOCHI: The Kerala State Women's Commission on Sunday said it will approach the Supreme Court seeking permission to file a fact-finding report on the Hadiya aka Akhila issue, a controversial case in which the Hindu girl converted to Islam to marry a Muslim man, Shafin Jahan, last year. The marriage, opposed by her parents, was annulled by the Kerala High Court in March this year.
"The decision to move the apex court came in the view of complaints that her rights are being violated after being confined to her home at TV Puram in Vaikom in Kottayam district. We have received an expert legal opinion in this regard," the commission’s chairperson M C Josephine told reporters here.
The Supreme Court had ordered a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) into allegations of ‘love jihad’ in the issue.
Currently, Hadiya aka Akhila, a 24-year-old Hindu woman, who on the orders of the High Court is put in detention in her family home.
"The commission wants not only to visit the woman, her father, and mother but also to take stock of the situation prevailed there in the house. Then the commission will submit a report before the court," said Josephine.
A delegation of people from various sections of society had called upon Josephine earlier and submitted a memorandum to her to intervene in the case. She rebutted the campaign on social media that the commission being acted upon the Sangh Parivar agenda on this issue. "That kind of campaigns are false. The commission is always taking a pro-woman stand. These campaigns would create a negative impact on the society. Hence all should stay away from this," she said.
Earlier, women activists belonging to a Facebook Collective named Feminist Reading group had alleged that Akhila aka Hadiya was being physically and mentally tortured at her home. She had no contact with the outside world and is also not allowed to meet anyone. Police officials have been deployed at her house to provide protection.
Hadiya’s father got custody of his daughter after he told the Court that her marriage was a case of love jihad. Love jihad is a term popularised by those opposed to marriages between Hindu women and Muslim men on the allegation that these marriages were a ploy to convert Hindu women into Muslims.
Another girl returns to Hinduism
Last week, a 23-year-old woman who had converted to Islam in Kerala's Kasargode district said she was ‘returning’ to Hinduism. Athira, who changed her name to Ayesha before returning back to Hinduism, alleged that her friends had “misguided” her into changing her faith.
Athira left her home in Kasargode in July, writing a 15-page letter which said she was going to study Islam.