Johnson Cherian.
The Supreme Court on Thursday set aside the Kerala High Court order that annulled the marriage of Hadiya, previously known as Akhila.
On May 24 last, the High Court nullified her marriage with Shafin Jehan, sent her to her parents’ custody and ordered a probe into it the so-called ‘love jihad’.
Reading out the operative part of the Supreme Court order, Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra said Hadiya was summoned to the court where she admitted her marriage to Shafin Jahan. “She is free to pursue her future endeavours as per law,” he said.
The Supreme Court Bench, however, said the National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into alleged cases of Islamic conversion in Kerala by a “well-oiled network” would continue.
Earlier this week, Hadiya’s father K.M. Asokan, claimed before the apex court that his efforts prevented his daughter from being transported to “extremist-controlled territories” of Syria to be used as a “sex slave or a human bomb,”
“Vulnerable adult”
In a fresh affidavit, Mr. Asokan said that his daughter was a “vulnerable adult” and she “abjectly surrendered herself to complete strangers who adopted her into their fold, offering her shelter and protection and further imparted religious indoctrination in an isolated environment.”
He was responding to an affidavit filed by his daughter, who had told the apex court that she had willingly converted to Islam and wanted to remain a Muslim.
The matter came to the fore after Mr. Jehan challenged the High Court order.
In her affidavit, Ms. Hadiya said that she had married Mr. Jehan on her own will and sought the court’s permission to “live as his wife.” She also claimed that her husband was wrongly portrayed as a terrorist by the NIA and he had nothing to do with terror group ISIS.
On November 27 last, the apex court freed Ms. Hadiya from her parents’ custody and sent her to college to pursue her studies, even as she pleaded that she should be allowed to go with her husband.
