‘Forcibly converted to Islam, efforts to take her to Syria,' Kerala woman’s father to HC

Court has granted her protection after the young woman’s parents alleged that it was a case of 'love jihad'.

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The Kerala High Court on Friday ordered the Director General of Police to allot necessary protection to a woman from Kannur, whose family claimed that she was allegedly facing threats from religious radicals.

According to her parents, Sruthi, a woman from Pariyaram of Kannur district had allegedly been kept in illegal custody by a man. The man, Anees Hameed, was Sruthi's classmate and the two had got married.

The court ordered police protection while deciding on the petition filed by Sruthi’s parents, M Rajan and his wife.

According to reports, the woman's family claimed that they had to relocate from Kannur after they allegedly received threats from PFI activists. Following this, they approached the HC.

The petitioner had argued that Anees Hameed had abducted their daughter, converted her to Islam and married her under his religious customs. The police traced his house and produced Sruthi before the magistrate court on July 21. While the woman first preferred to go with her husband, she later returned to her parents.

Meanwhile, Anees had now filed a complaint before the Payyannur Judicial First Class Magistrate Court alleging that the family has detained Sruthi.

The High Court also asked the DGP to enquire about the complaint that there was a plot planned to take Sruthi to Syria. The HC also ordered a stay on the Magistrate court’s search warrant based on a complaint filed by Anees,

Speaking to TNM, Kannur SP G Siva Vikram said that media reports stating that the Sruthi's family had approached the court after their pleas to the police went in vain were incorrect.

"The family directly approached the court. I will instruct the jurisdictional DySP to provide police protection to the family," the SP said.

In his complaint, Sruthi’s father Rajan had stated that Hameed together with some religious organisations had threatened to take his daughter to Syria or Yemen. He also claimed that Anees emotionally blackmailed Sruthi by pretending to be in love with her.

The missing complaint was first filed by Rajan on May 16 after which the girl was produced before Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Taliparamba on July 21.

The case gains prominence in light of the Hadiya case, a Hindu woman who converted to Islam before marrying a Muslim man. The case of ‘love jihad’ is now being probed by the NIA. Ordering an NIA probe, the SC had asked the investigation agency to enquire about Hadiya's conversion and marriage and also to find out whether there were efforts to convert Hindu girls in the state.