Yogesh Mohite

Sultana Mohammed Shaikh

Sultana

Islam

Akluj

FIR

JMFC Mahesh Saraf

Yogesh

Jasmin

To an outsider, theirs may have seemed a perfect modern marriage, but(27) and his wife Jasmin’s (23) last four years can only be defined by strife. He is a Hindu and she a Muslim, and the couple was being tormented by none other than Jasmin’s mother,, who did not approve of the marriage and filed a false case of theft and intimidation with Market Yard police in 2013. It’s taken them four years to finally put the case behind them and prove that they had been falsely accused of a crime only becausewanted her son-in-law to embraceIt all started in 2013 when the two decided to marry the right way by seeking the blessings of their respective families. While Yogesh’s parents, who stay in, agreed to the match, Jasmin’s mother Sultana was dead against it. They had no option but to elope. They remained in hiding for the next two months, fearing Sultana’s wrath. When they did come out, they learnt that they had been booked by Market Yard police under sections 380 (theft) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). They were arrested and released the next day on bail. This was four years ago.Ever since, they have been facing trial at Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) court in Pune. After multiple hearings, cops finally filed a closure report telling the court that thewas false and filed with the intention to harass the couple. Earlier this month, JMFC court asked the two sides to settle the case. “Their entire dispute appears only due to the wrong beliefs about religion and unethical imbalance between two sects of the society. This court hopes amicable settlement in between parties keeping aside the wrong beliefs, egos of religion till next date (sic),”stated in his order on July 10.On Thursday, July 20, when the case came up for hearing again, with no compromise in sight, the court accepted police’s report and acquitted the couple. The court observed that the complaint had been filed with an ‘ill motive on account of inter religion marriage’. The judge remarked that all Sultana wanted was that her son-in-lawconvert to Islam. “She was firm on her point of accepting Muslim religion by the son-in-law. The whims and ego of the complainant has given birth to the present false litigation (sic),” the judge said adding, “It is crystal clear from the report submitted that an ill-motivated complaint has been lodged against accused number 1 (Yogesh) and 2 () due to her daughter’s marriage to a Hindu man. The complaint seems to be filed due to personal vendetta with the accused no 1 (Yogesh) with unethical and illogical concepts as to religion (sic).”With the changes against them being dropped, the couple has heaved a sigh of relief. However, they are not sure how long their peace will last. Akluj residents, where Yogesh works at a store, has two children. Jasmin hasn’t converted but has only taken on her husband’s name.Reminiscing about the horrifying time, Yogesh said, “My parents did not have a problem with our match but her mother wanted me to convert. I did not have a problem with conversion but I failed to see any logic in it. She threatened us with dire consequences and kept intimidating me and my wife. We had no other option but to elope, and subsequently had to move around different villages for two months waiting for the matter to subside. When we returned, my mother-in-law arrived at our doorstep with five cars full of men to beat us up and kill us. But our neighbour helped us and we were saved. We went through hell in these four years; she tried to take away my wife as well.”Jasmin reiterated that her mother’s only intent through the last four years was for Yogesh to convert. The homemaker and mother of a fouryear- old girl and a five-month-old boy said, “I cannot trust my mother even now, she is still capable of harming us. When we wanted to amicably solve the issue within the family, she avoided our calls. She wanted to kills us because we got married outside of our religion.”When Mirror contacted Sultana, who stays in Pune, she stuck to the story narrated while filing the FIR in 2013, “They had stolen money from my house before eloping. I never had a problem with their marriage. My daughter was married twice before this and she was not divorced yet. She stole from the previous homes as well. My son-in-law beats her up regularly and I have filed several cases against him but the police took no action. I had to take this step.”█ I did not have a problem with conversion, but I failed to see any logic in it. She threatened us with dire consequences and kept intimidating me and my wife