On Friday (July 9), the Supreme Court of India issued notices to the governments of Odisha, Jammu & Kashmir, and the Chandigarh administration in connection to a case of grooming jihad, reported The Times of India.
An Odia couple named Kabita and Kedarnath had moved a habeas corpus petition in the apex court, alleging that their daughter had gone missing after her marriage to a Muslim man. According to the couple, their daughter was a student of B.Pharma in Behrampur in Odisha. The girl had met the accused at her college. The Muslim man was a resident of Bandipora in Jammu and Kashmir. The victim and the accused first moved to Lucknow, followed by Chandigarh before disappearing in Bandipora.
While expressing fear about their daughter’s safety, the couple alleged that the duo married in Chandigarh. They told the Court that they were not opposed to interfaith marriage. The couple feared that their daughter was forced into marriage by the accused, who allegedly was a part of a grooming gang. The petitioners said that the girl’s husband was a part of a syndicate that played ‘with the lives of the Hindu girls.’ They went to Chandigarh to bring their daughter back but it was in vain.
They lamented, “The Muslim man and our daughter moved the Punjab and Haryana HC for protection. The petition was later withdrawn and the couple disappeared. We’re unable to contact her and fear that the crime syndicate may coerce her to do illegal acts or acts detrimental to national security. Her phone is switched off and we don’t know her whereabouts.” The case was heard by a 3-Judge Bench of Justices UU Lalit, Ajay Rastogi, and Aniruddha Bose. The Court directed the governments of Odisha, Jammu & Kashmir, and the Chandigarh administration to file their responses (counter-affidavits) by July 23.
Grooming Jihad cases on the rise
Another case of alleged Grooming Jihad had come to the light in Chhatarpur, Madhya Pradesh where a girl’s father has alleged that his daughter has been murdered by her husband and in-laws.
As per reports, the girl’s father, who is the complainant in the case, had stated that his daughter had become a victim of ‘love jihad’ in 2015 when Talib had approached her pretending to be a Hindu named ‘Tabbu’. He had married her and later they had two children too. However, later, the man started harassing her, forcing her to convert to Islam. The father had filed a complaint against the accused with the Civil Line Police Station.
Reportedly, the victim’s father has complained that on July 1, he had received a call from his daughter where she told that she is being abused and tortured by her in-laws and there is a threat to her life. When the father went to the girl’s marital home, he reportedly found that all rooms were locked up and the family had gone away. The father further added that neighbours in the place informed him that his daughter is no more and she had been killed.
