SC wants NIA probe into Kerala ‘love jihad’ case

COURT WAS HEARING A PLEA FILED BY A MUSLIM MAN WHOSE MARRIAGE WAS ANNULLED BY THE KERALA HIGH COURT

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court directed on Wednesday the National Investigation Agency to investigate the alleged forced conversion of a Hindu woman to Islam for marriage in Kerala.

The order came after the country’s counter-terrorism organisation said it was not an isolated case but part of a growing pattern of converting women from Hinduism to Islam.

The NIA made its remarks during a hearing on a petition filed by Kerala-based Shafin Jahan, a Muslim man whose marriage last December with a Hindu woman, who had converted to Islam, was annulled by the Kerala high court.

The high court described the wedding as a case of “love jihad”, a term right-wing groups use to allege an Islamist strategy of converting Hindu women through marriage, money or threat.

The 24-year-old homeopathic doctor, Akhila Ashokan aka Hadia Shefin, was allegedly recruited by the Islamic State terrorist group and her husband was only a stooge.

Retired military man Ashokan KM, her father, alleged there was a “well-oiled systematic mechanism” for conversion and Islamic radicalisation. The woman now lives with her parents.

A top court bench headed by Chief Justice JS Khehar said retired judge RV Raveendran will monitor the NIA probe.

When Jahan’s lawyer Kapil Sibal requested the top court to interview the girl, the chief justice alluded to the controversial internet game, Blue Whale Challenge, to make his point that “such things can drive people to do anything”. “We want inputs from all sides before we take a final decision,” he said.

The court assured Sibal that it would speak to the girl before passing a final order.

Blue Whale online game provokes players to do self-destructive tasks for 50 days before taking the final step of death by suicide. It is responsible for scores of teenage deaths around the world.

While annulling their marriage this May a division bench of the high court made serious observations that a high-level probe was needed to find out whether there was an organised syndicate behind such conversions and their suspected role in recruiting youth for the IS.