Not Free To Meet Man I Love, College Is 'Prison', Says Hadiya: 10 Points
Hadiya's parents have refused to accept her marriage to Shafin Jahan, who returned from Oman recently, and they allege that their daughter is being indoctrinated and will be taken to Syria.
Kerala woman Hadiya says "haven't got freedom, wanted to meet husband" (File photo)
Coimbatore: Kerala woman Hadiya, ordered by the Supreme Court to go back to the college she was pulled out of after she converted to Islam and married a Muslim man, says she is worried "this is going to be another prison" as she is not free to meet her husband Shafin Jahan. The court on Monday freed her from her parents, who kept her confined in their home in Kottayam for months, insisting she was brainwashed and forced to convert for terror in a case typical of what right wing groups call "love jihad".
Here is your 10-point cheatsheet to the story:
"I need the freedom to meet the person I love. I wanted to meet my husband... Till now I did not get freedom," Hadiya, 25, told NDTV, adding, "I am asking for my fundamental rights."
On Tuesday, Hadiya was flown from Delhi to Tamil Nadu and re-admitted to the Sivaraj Homeopathy Medical College in Salem, where she was studying before she married Shafin Hasan. The two met through a matrimonial website affiliated to an organization that the National Investigation Agency believes is linked to terror.
Hadiya told NDTV that she has no phone and hadn't contacted anyone. "For six months I was put up with people I hate. They only tried to convert me. My own parents said I'm mentally unstable," she alleged.
Hadiya's parents have refused to accept her marriage to Shafin Jahan, who returned from Oman recently, and they allege that their daughter is being indoctrinated and will be taken to Syria.
The Supreme Court judges heard Hadiya for the first time on Monday. Wearing a red scarf or hijab, she said she had been illegally confined at her parents' home for 11 months and she wanted to study. She also asked that her husband be made her guardian, to which the judges said, "No one can be treated as anyone's property."
The Supreme Court said she can complete her studies in Tamil Nadu, but left the question of her marriage to the next hearing in January.
Hadiya said she hoped to meet her husband finally, as the court had not said anything to the contrary. But the college indicated her reunion with Shafin Jahan may not be easy.
"The college doesn't have clarity on the court order. We have to wait for a few more days," said Hadiya. "I have waited so long... People will say I can wait some more..."
