Madhya Pradesh high court granted protection to an interfaith couple who eloped by restraining the police from taking any action against the man Asif Khan (22). Khan was accused by his wife’s family of kidnapping.
The single Jabalpur bench headed by Justice Nandita Dubey was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by the woman, Sakshi Sahu (22), which pointed out that the petitioner is a major who married Asif Khan with her full will and consent.
“The petitioners have further stated that they were wrongly advised to get married in the temple… nobody informed them that they should get their marriage registered under the Special Marriage Act. They submitted that they will get their marriage registered under the Special Marriage Act, as both of them have been living together since April 7. It is further stated that being a citizen of India, they have a right to choose the life partner of their choice,” the court stated during the hearing as per The Indian Express report.
The PIL was filed after Madhya Pradesh’s Dindori district administration razed down Asif’s family house and three shops following his elopement with his Hindu neighbor Sakshi.
A day after the house and shops were demolished, Sakshi released a video in which she said, “I am Sakshi Sahu, resident of Shahpura in Dindori. I married Asif Khan despite opposition from my family. My husband’s family is being falsely implicated. I married him of my own will but my family is misusing facts and foisting false cases on Asif’s family. They are being tortured, and their house and shops have been demolished. I urge the Chief Minister to help me or else both my husband and I will commit suicide.”
Based on a complaint registered by Sakshi’s brother, the police had booked Asif under IPC sections related to ‘kidnapping to compel the woman into marriage’.
