'Hadiya Not Under Illegal Custody': Kerala High Court Rejects Father's Petition

Hadiya, who runs a homoeopathy clinic, said in a video that she divorced Jahan and remarried a man of her choice.

Hadiya, who runs a clinic in Thiruvananthapuram, said in the video that she divorced Jahan and remarried a man of her choice.

(Photo: Liju Joseph/The Quint)

The Kerala High Court on Friday, 15 December, rejected the habeas corpus petition filed by KM Asokan – the father of 32-year-old Hadiya – wherein he claimed that she had been 'missing' for the past month. 

A division bench of Justice Anu Sivaraman and Justice C Pratheep Kumar stated that Hadiya – who was under public and legal scrutiny five years ago for converting to Islam and marrying Shafin Jahan – is not under the 'illegal custody' of any person by her own admission, LiveLaw reported.

The bench said that Hadiya submitted a statement to the court saying she divorced Jahan, remarried, and was living of her own accord in Thiruvananthapuram. She also submitted to the court that she had been in touch with her family.

On 11 December, a day after Asokan filed the habeas corpus plea with the high court, the homoeopathy doctor said in a video on Saturday, 9 December, that she was 'fine.'

What Did Hadiya Say in the Video?

Hadiya, who runs a clinic in Thiruvananthapuram, said in the video that she divorced Jahan and remarried a man of her choice.

"The Constitution has given the right for every person to enter into marriage and get out of the relationship. It is a common thing in society. I don't understand why society is getting irritated in my case. I am a grown-up who is capable of making decisions," she said in the video, as per The Indian Express. 

She added that she got out of her marriage with Jahan as she "could not continue in it," and was happy living as a Muslim. "My parents are also aware of the remarriage," she said in the video.

What Was the Habeas Corpus Petition About?

Asokan's petition filed in the first week of December claimed that until recently, he used to speak to his daughter over the phone regularly but did not know her current whereabouts. 

Hadiya, however, told The News Minute that:

"I maintained constant communication with my parents until recently, right up to the point when the habeas corpus writ was filed. It was only then that I ceased calling them."

She told the publication that her "father's recent behaviour can be attributed to his unwitting involvement with Sangh Parivar groups … Throughout our phone conversations over the years, there was never any animosity. However, he was never able to communicate with me freely … Some individuals are actively preventing any reconciliation between us, manipulating my father in the process." 

Asokan became an official member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2018.

What Was the Case?

In 2016, Hadiya converted to Islam while pursuing medicine in Coimbatore. She married Shafin Jahan at the age of 25.

Her father, however, filed a habeas corpus petition in the Kerala High Court in January of that year.

In December 2016, during the court proceedings, Hadiya asserted that she wanted to stay married to Jahan. Their marriage was annuled in May 2017 after an investigation.

Hadiya was then placed under house arrest with restricted access to telephone communication and newspapers. Jahan, meanwhile, contested the annulment in the Supreme Court, prompting the court to order an investigation by the National Investigation Agency to probe whether she was forced to convert to Islam.

In November 2017, Hadiya reiterated that she wanted to remain a Muslim and stay married to Shafin. A favourable order from the Supreme Court finally came in March 2018, allowing the couple to live together.