Amid high drama, a 22-year-old woman, who converted to Islam recently, joined her husband here on Tuesday. She was allowed to leave the Nari Niketan women's home, where she was lodged for a week on the Rajasthan High Court's order. Activists of right-wing groups protested outside the court which allowed her to join her husband.
The woman’s family had alleged that she was forcibly converted and married off to a Muslim youth. The court had earlier raised doubts about her marriage, saying the documents of her conversion and the ‘nikahnama’ (marriage contract) contradicted each other.
Aarifa, earlier known as Payal Singhvi, was brought in veil to the court amid strict security during the hearing of a habeas corpus petition filed by her brother Chirag Singhvi. When the court asked Aarifa about her conversion and marriage, she said she had married Faeiz Modi on her own will and wanted to go with him. She told the judges that she was not willing to go back to Nari Niketan.
A Division Bench, comprising Justices Gopal Krishan Vyas and Manoj Kumar Garg, ruled that Aarifa, a major, was free to marry the man of her choice. However, the probe into her conversion and documents of inter-faith marriage would continue, said the court, which had earlier directed the police to register a case on her family's complaint.
While asking the police to ensure the safety of Aarifa, her husband and in-laws , the Bench said it would hear the merits of conversion and the legal position of change of faith on the basis of the State government’s reply on Wednesday.
The petitioner alleged that Faeiz had been harassing his sister for long and had abducted her. Aarifa’s family also claimed that her ‘nikahnama’ was forged and that she, in fact lived with them till last month, even though she claimed to have converted and married Faeiz in April this year.
The court observed that it had sent Aarifa to Nari Niketan on November 1, the previous date of hearing, for her safety. On the court's direction, the State government filed an affidavit on the status of law on conversion in Rajasthan, making a reference to the Religious Freedom Bill passed by the Assembly in 2008.
Hindutva groups protest
Tension prevailed outside the High Court building following the order, as a large number of Hindutva activists gathered along with Aarifa's family members and raised slogans.
When some activists allegedly misbehaved with advocate Mahesh Bora, who appeared for Faeiz, the police intervened and dispersed the crowd. Mr. Bora contended in the court that an order to send Aarifa to the Nari Niketan could not be passed because she was not in conflict with the law.
High Court lawyers boycotted the court to protest against misbehaviour with Mr. Bora and sloganeering by “anti-social elements”.
The police had earlier registered an FIR against Faeiz on the court's direction under Sections 366 (kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman to compel her marriage), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 384 (extortion) of the Indian Penal Code. The investigation in the case will continue.
Chirag stated in his petition that Aarifa had gone missing from home since October 25. The police, he said, refused to register an FIR and told him that she had already sent a communication informing them of her conversion and marriage solemnised with Faeiz.
The matter comes close on the heels of a similar controversy over Hadiya, a 24-year-old woman from Kerala, who converted to Islam and married a Muslim. The case is now before the Supreme Court, after the Kerala High Court annulled the marriage and gave the woman’s custody to her father.