Kerala love jihad: I'm Muslim, want to remain as Jahan's wife, Hadiya tells SC

Salem: Hadiya, the 24-year-old woman who made headlines after she converted to Islam, on Tuesday filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court stating that she is a Muslim and wanted to remain as a Muslim. She also stated that she wanted to remain as the wife of Shafin Jahan, the Muslim man who married her.

In a recent verdict on the Kerala 'love jihad' case in January this year, the Supreme Court declared that an adult woman has the right to live freely and choose a life of her choice.

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The Supreme Court said the NIA could continue with its probe into the alleged love jihad case of Kerala but it cannot investigate the marital status of the man and the woman.

The top court also said that the woman, alleged to be a victim of love jihad, had appeared before it and had specifically said she had married Shafin Jahan on her own.

Akhila had married a Muslim man called Shafin, embraced Islam and changed her name to Hadiya.

Hadiya, a BHMS student, returned to Sivaraj Homeopathy College in Salem in November last year after the Supreme Court allowed her to complete her studies. 

Registered with her original name Akhila Ashokan, Hadiya was forced to discontinue her studies at the institute after a major row erupted over her conversion to Islam and marriage to Shafin.

Hadiya, who was born to a Hindu couple in Kerala, converted to Islam and married Jahan but her marriage was annulled by Kerala High Court in May last year.

It was alleged that the woman was recruited by Islamic State group's mission in Syria and Jahan was only a stooge. Ashokan K M, the father of the woman, had alleged that there was a "well-oiled systematic mechanism" for conversion and Islamic radicalisation.

The high court, while declaring the marriage as "null and void", had described the case as an instance of 'love jihad' and ordered the state police to conduct probe into such cases.