KOZHIKODE: Ever since winning a favourable verdict from the Supreme Court on her decision to marry Shefin Jahan, Hadiya has been making statements against those who allegedly dissuaded her from embracing Islam. On Monday, she alleged that police officers and National Women’s Commission members wanted her to return to Hinduism.“The people who visited me while I was at my house persuaded me to return to Hinduism. I was never allowed to meet anybody whom I loved to meet. Those who came to counsel me tried to teach me ‘Sanatana Dharma’. Even the National Women’s Commission chairperson talked about Hinduism to me,” she said.
“After the High Court sent me along with my parents, I stayed at my home for nearly six months. It was the harshest period in my life. I underwent many mental tortures. Even my mother tried to poison me. I was under house arrest,” she said.“I love my parents. I know they also love me. I have no grudges against them. But now, they are being controlled by some other forces,” she said, adding that she did not want to name anyone in particular. “These groups are anti-Islam. They are anti-national. They are utilising my parents for their political gains.”
Coming down heavily on the High Court judgment, she said the court failed in considering her case objectively.“I was 24 when I embraced Islam. Even our Constitution guarantees every citizen the right to follow the religion one likes and to marry someone of one’s choice. But in my case, my fundamental rights were denied. The court gave more importance to the emotions of parents,” she said. Hadiya claimed that the government owed her reparation for the mental trauma she had undergone.Hadiya made it clear that she did not embrace Islam to marry somebody.“I was attracted to the religion when I was studying in Salem. I embraced Islam in 2013. It was much later that I met Shefin Jahan,” she said.