A man from Chhattisgarh belonging to the Muslim community, who converted to Hinduism to marry his love, has now approached the Supreme Court seeking the “release” of his wife whom her parents have allegedly held captive.
A bench led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra has issued notices to Dhamtari’s district magistrate, its superintendent of police (SP), the station house officer (SHO) of City Kotwali, and the woman’s father. The bench also directed the SP to produce the woman before it on August 27.
Mohd Ibrahim Siddiqui, 33, who filed the writ petition in the SC after the Chhattisgarh high court “erroneously declined to direct the release of (his) wife”, had converted to Hinduism and took the name Aryan Arya before marrying the 23-year-old woman with whom he had been in a relationship for two years.
The high court, despite recording the woman as an adult and admitting that she was married to the appellant of her own will, refused to let her go with the petitioner, Siddiqui’s petition in the top court stated.
His petition added that the HC instead gave his wife the “options” to either go with her parents or live in a hostel.
Siddiqui, now Aryan Arya, said he embraced Hinduism on February 23 in Raipur. Following his conversion, the couple got married at the Arya Samaj temple in Raipur on February 25.
His petition stated that his wife returned to her parents’ home in Dhamtari but did not disclose that she had married him.
The plea added that his wife’s parents learnt about the marriage, following which she decided to leave her home on the night of June 30 to meet him, but was spotted by police officers who first took her to the police station and from there to a government crisis centre for women.
Siddiqui accused the police of recording an incorrect statement of hers that she wished to go with her parents, before sending her to her father. He then filed a petition in the HC seeking her release but the court rejected his petition, his petition in the top court reads.
First Published: Aug 17, 2018 23:28 IST
