Papalal is a painter from Hyderabad and for almost four years, his family has been facing harassment.Reason? Papalal found a little girl at the blast site near Gokul chat centre in Hyderabad in August 2007 and brought her home.As no one came to claim the child, Papalal and his wife have been taking care of her as their own eldest daughter, even after they realised that she was probably born to Muslim parents."Only after she came to our home, I became pregnant. Even if I haven't given birth to her, she will always be my eldest daughter,'' says Sonia's foster mother Jayshree.Love above religion, however, was not acceptable to all. Both fundamentalist Muslim and Hindu groups objected to a Muslim child being raised by a Hindu couple."They want us to give the child away to an orphanage. Which religious text has said something like this? Hindu or Muslim makes no difference to us. We will never give her away,'' says Papalal.

The State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has ordered the local police to ensure the family's safety but social harassment and threats have continued.A 3-member advocate commission appointed by the SHRC has directed that the child should either be legally adopted or handed over to the child welfare department. For Papalal, this is not a choice he needs to think about. He already considers Sonia as his daughter and will soon legally adopt her.