Court squashes ‘love jihaad’ claims, asks couple to settle

Nagpur: The Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court has come to the rescue of a Muslim boy (23) and Hindu girl (22) who tied the knot recently, only to be harassed by the girl’s parents who were against the match and termed it as “love jihad”. The bench allowed the couple to settle down together after marriage.

A division bench comprising justices Vasanti Naik and Murlidhar Giratkar, while trashing the charges against the couple, disposed of the case filed by the boy to get custody of the girl. The decision came after the petitioners’ counsels — Shashibhushan Wahane and Raspal Singh Renu — informed the court that the couple had formally entered wedlock (performed nikaah) as per the Muslim rituals. The criminal application filed by the girl’s father against the boy was also disposed of.

The couple knew each other since the past six years, fell in love, and decided to get married. However, the girl’s parents refused to accept the Muslim boy as their son-in-law.

On August 15, the boy and girl ran away from their respective homes and stayed for a night in Bhandara before returning to the city. Later, they visited a local police station and informed officials there that they were going to tie the knot. The police conveyed their decision to the girl’s agitated parents and tried their best to pacify them but in vain.

Subsequently, the girl was sent to Priyadarshini Vasatigruh (NariNiketan) in Civil Lines without seeking consent from the judicial magistrate first class (JMFC) on the same day. Later, her custody was handed over to her parents against her wishes. Since then, she had been in her parents’ “illegal custody”, the petitioners claimed. The boy, a resident of Tajbagh, a Muslim-dominated locality, approached the judiciary, praying for release of the girl. He contended that they were both majors and entitled to take decisions regarding marriage as per the law.

Considering the fact that both the girl and the boy were majors and had already entered into matrimony as per Muslim rituals, the court disposed of the petition in their favour and dismissed the girl’s parents’ “love jihad” allegations.