New Delhi: In the latest instance of an adult interfaith couple drawing ire despite both parties consenting, the police in Vadodara, Gujarat intervened during protests against the marriage of a Muslim man and Hindu woman on Wednesday (December 16) night.
According to the Indian Express, there was a protest outside the Karelibaug police station, and the police had to physically restrain the group from entering the thana.
The couple, in their 20s, had eloped and registered a ‘nikahnama’ in Bandra, Mumbai, police told the newspaper. The woman’s family and right-wing Hindu groups in the area are now protesting as they want a complaint registered against the man, for “luring” the woman into marriage and “forcing” her to convert.
R.A. Jadeja, police inspector of Karelibaug police station, told the Indian Express that the marriage was valid and there was no case to be registered here. “They are adults and have told us that they married each other with consent. The girl converted to Islam and they had a nikah ceremony in Mumbai, So we cannot book them under the prevailing law of Gujarat where conversion for marriage requires the consent of the collector. Had they married here without such consent, we could have booked the case but there is no such law in Maharashtra,” he said.
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Despite this, the man and woman have been sent back to their respective families as the police fear a “law and order” situation. Local political leaders too have joined the protesting groups, alleging ‘love jihad’ even though the marriage is between two consenting adults.
Jadeja said, “The couple arrived here and stayed at the boy’s house but they felt intimidated by the tension in the neighbourhood and sought help. We called both the families also for counselling. The couple are definitely standing up for their marriage but initially only the girl’s family was opposing the marriage.”
“Further towards the end of the discussion, the boy’s family also expressed apprehensions that their son might be harmed. So we told them to cool off for four days. We advised the couple to go with their respective families to see if they could sort out the matter within their homes.”
In recent weeks, BJP-run states like Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh have revealed plans to enact laws to counter “love jihad” – a term coined by Sangh parivar outfits to describe an imaginary Muslim conspiracy to convert unsuspecting Hindu women to Islam.