In 2014, national level shooter from Jharkhand, Tara Shahdeo, created quite a sensation when she claimed that her husband had lied to her about his religion and was forcing her to convert to Islam. This led to several Hindu outfits protesting what they called was a case of ‘Love Jihad’.

As per a first information report (FIR) filed by her in Ranchi police station in August 2014, Raqibul Hasan Khan had posed as Ranjit Kumar Kohli before tying the knot with Tara. The FIR was filed a month after the marriage.

Khan was subsequently arrested. The case was also transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Tara further filed a divorce petition in January 2017. On Tuesday (26 June), a Ranchi family court granted divorce to her on grounds of cruelty. Principal judge of family court B K Gautam ordered that the evidence revealed that she was subjected to cruelty and no one has the right to force any person to change his/her religion, reported The Times of India.

Tara’s advocate had contended that when Tara went to her in-laws’ house after the wedding, she sensed it was a Muslim household. “The next day, the family brought a Muslim religious head to the house to solemnise the marriage under Islamic traditions. When she protested, Tara was confined to a house and was subjected to cruelty,” her counsel said.

However, Khan had contested the charge of cruelty saying it was she was forcing him to financially support her family and had threatened to teach him a lesson if he refused. The husband also claimed that he was a Hindu by birth but did not deny that he was a Muslim, said the Times of India report.