Recently, social media websites were flooded with a heart-warming story of a Muslim man ‘adopting’ two girls and later marrying them off as per Hindu rituals.
According to the several reports in the media, a Muslim man, Bababhai Pathan, who hails from Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra, ‘adopted’ two orphan sisters and organised their wedding from his own expenses in accordance with the Hindu rituals.
Muslim man Bababhai Pathan, from Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, has adopted two orphan sisters & wedded them from his own expenses according to the Hindu rituals. He has been widely praised for his humanitarian work across the country. pic.twitter.com/zLIQP76JnS
— Aarif Shah (@aarifshaah) August 23, 2020
The same story was picked up by an IPS officer Dipanshu Kabra, posting a tweet lavishing praises on Bababhai Pathan for ‘adopting’ two orphan girls and marrying them off as per Hindu traditions. Lauding Pathan’s gesture, Kabra hailed the Muslim man as a totem of unity and humanity and asserted that it is due to people like him that the faith and trust of crores of people on humanity remains resolute.
मिलिए बाबाभाई पठान से. अहमदनगर #महाराष्ट्र के रहने वाले बाबाभाई ने 2 अनाथ बच्चियों को गोद लिया और हिन्दू रीती-रिवाजों के अनुसार खुद उनकी शादी करवाई तथा एकता और मानवता की अद्वितीय मिसाल कायम की. उनके जैसे लोगों के कारण ही इंसानियत पर करोड़ों लोगों की आस्था और विश्वास अटल है. pic.twitter.com/ALiYYlltyL
— Dipanshu Kabra (@ipskabra) August 23, 2020
The brides’ are not orphans as claimed in the media
However, contrary to the media reports claiming that the Muslim man ‘adopted’ the orphan girls and in a benevolent gesture and married them off according to the Hindu customs, the brides were neither adopted, nor orphans and their mother is still alive.
According to popular Marathi blogger and columnist Sameer Gaikwad, Bababhai Pathan was a rakhi brother of the bride’s mother and he performed the rituals of a maternal uncle at the wedding of the two daughters of the Bhusare family in Bodhegaon of Ahmednagar. The mother of the brides ties rakhi to Bababhai Pathan every year because she doesn’t have a biological brother.
After it came to the fore that the girls were not orphans ‘adopted’ by Bababhai Pathan as being bandied about in the media and the weddings were organised by the mother of the girls, IPS Kabra corrected himself by issuing a clarification tweet on the incident.
Recently got the update that the 2 sisters aren’t orphan as mentioned by my media sources.
— Dipanshu Kabra (@ipskabra) August 24, 2020
Their mother Mrs. Bhusare ties rakhi to Bababhai Pathan every year, as she doesn’t have a real brother.
Bababhai performed rituals & duties of maternal uncle & brother at their wedding. https://t.co/wIZy3SIVf4
Clarifying assertions made in his previous tweet, IPS Kabra said that he was updated from media sources that the two sisters were not orphans and that their mother ties rakhi to Bababhai Pathan every year as she doesn’t have a real brother.
