By Jisha Surya
They met in school, fell in love and after a decade of long-distance relationship, decided to marry. It could have been a typical love story, if politics of hatred hadn’t gotten in the way. For the interfaith couple – Mohammed Ghalib, 30, and Asha Verma, 26, the only option was to run away to a state, which is over 2500 km away from their native place Jharkhand.
On February 27, Kerala High Court issued an interim order asking police to give protection to Asha and Ghalib, who got married in the state last week. The court also asked the station house officer of Kayamkulam police station to ensure that they were not forcefully taken away to Jharkhand.
Ghalib brought Asha to Kerala, a state he had previously visited twice in connection with the marriages of his colleagues. With the support of his friends in Kayamkulam in Alappuzha district, Ghalib and Asha got married as per Muslim rituals on February 11, followed by a Hindu ceremony five days later.
The couple approached the court after Rajrappa Police Station in Jharkhand registered an FIR against Ghalib and his two friends under section 87 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (kidnap or abduct a woman with the intent to force her into marriage or illicit intercourse).
As per the complaint filed by Asha’s 19-year-old brother Raunak Kumar Verma, Asha went missing when their father Dhruv Prasad went to Kumbh Mela on February 9. “During their search, they found out that Mohammed Ghalib alias Raza, along with his accomplices Fauji and another unidentified person, had kidnapped Asha Verma. It is alleged that they abducted her with ill intentions and took her to Kerala. The complainant suspects that his sister is being trapped in “Love Jihad” and may be taken abroad for exploitation,” the FIR said. Love Jihad, a term propagated by right wing groups, is a conspiracy theory which purports that Muslim men seduce, kidnap or marry Hindu women with the intention to convert them.
Speaking to TNM over phone, Asha dismissed the allegation of ‘Love Jihad’ and kidnapping. Asha said that she and Ghalib were in a long distance relationship for over 10 years. “Recently, my family came to know about it. It was then that I asked Ghalib to come and run off together,” said Asha. Asha said that she has no fears as she was feeling safe in Kerala.
This story was originally published in thenewsminute.com. Read the full story here.
