I’m a Muslim and Nobody Forced Me to Convert, Says Hadiya Again

Her statement is important as the annulment of her marriage by the HC rests on her forceful conversion.

Hadiya left from Kochi for Delhi on Saturday, 25 November.

(Photo Courtesy: The News Minute)

“I was not forcibly converted nor was I forced to marry. I want to go with my husband and I should get justice.” This is what Hadiya screamed aloud on Saturday, 25 November, with the media cameras zooming in on her, before her departure to Delhi from Kochi international airport.

The 25-year-old Muslim convert was flying to Delhi and is scheduled to appear before the Supreme Court for a hearing on 27 November, when she is expected to give her side of the case of her alleged forced conversion and marriage.

Hadiya was again repeating what she has maintained all along that she was not forcibly converted nor was she forced to marry.

Meanwhile her father’s lawyer has said her statements cannot be taken at face value.

What Hadiya is saying cannot be accepted at its face value because she was made to say so, and that is our impression. Her behaviour with her family was not normal. Whatever she has said to the media cannot be taken as her own free comments.

Hadiya’s father’s lawyer in Delhi

One of the lawyers representing Hadiya’s father Asokan had told The News Minute on Thursday, 23 November, “Though the decision was to take her to Delhi by train, we were asked by the government to arrange air travel as there were security concerns about the train journey.” He added that the Kerala government is flying Hadiya to Delhi at its expense.

Her husband Shafin Jahan though denied any knowledge of her being taken by flight to Delhi.

The court had raised doubts based on Ashokan’s allegations that his daughter (earlier called Akhila) had been lured to convert to Islam and subsequently agree for marriage, and there were plans to take her to Syria.

Hadiya’s father Asokan, had even approached the SC on Tuesday, 21 November seeking an in-camera hearing, instead of an open court, but the court turned down his request.

Hadiya Married on Her Free Will: NIA

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed in the Supreme Court its status report on the ongoing probe in Hadiya’s alleged 'love jihad' case.

The NIA in its report has included that Hadiya married her husband of her free will and was not coerced into changing her religion to marry Shafin Jahan.

“She has said that she married Jahan of her own free will and decided to convert voluntarily,” a government source was quoted telling The Indian Express.

This development is significant as any annulment of the marriage based on Kerala High Court’s order would depend on whether Hadiya was coerced into marriage or not.

While the woman’s father has alleged that she was not in a proper mental state to take the correct decision, the same has not been proved and cannot be proved at this stage.

Government Official

The status report has been filed in a sealed cover as a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra would take up the case for hearing on 27 November.

Hadiya’s husband Shafin has filed a complaint stating that attempts are being made to reconvert her to Hinduism ahead of her being produced in Supreme Court next week.

The NIA had earlier alleged in the court that there was a “well-oiled machinery working in Kerala” indulging in indoctrination and radicalisation and 89 such cases have been reported.

The counsel for Hadiya’s father had earlier claimed that Jahan was a radicalised man and had links with persons who used to recruit for ISIS. This allegation was refuted by Jahan's counsel.

(With inputs from PTI and The News Minute)

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