People marrying out side their religion scurrying for cover

[The threat to Inter-religious marriages is becoming daily fare in Secular India. There are hundreds of instances all over where court marriages are provoking retaliation, intimidation. Only a few get reported in the media. See report below]

(The Times of India
16 July 2008)

Fearing arrest, newly weds rush to court

by Kartikeya,TNN

MUMBAI: One does not normally expect newly married couples in cosmopolitan Mumbai to rush to court fearing harassment by policemen unleashed upon them by parents not very happy with the match.

However, in this particular case not only are the brides and groom highly qualified business school passouts but also work for top-notch firms in south Mumbai. On Tuesday, a session’s court heard their anticipatory bail plea which said that they wanted protection from the Pant Nagar police which was going to arrest them at the behest of the girl's family members who were not very happy with the inter-community marriage.

The plea said that Aslam Khan (26) and Deepa Khan (25) (names changes) were MBA by qualification and got married on July 10 under the Special Marriage Act. Their application said that the decision to get married came as they both were "deeply in love".

The plea said that Deepa's parents were opposed to the match. After marriage she moved to Khan's house in Pydhonie while her father, Pravin Khanna, lives in Garodia Nagar. On July 12, Deepa even informed the two police stations of Pydhonie and Pant Nagar that she had left her parents' house on her own will and had not taken any cash, jewellery or valuables with her.

However, according to the application before court, after the marriage Deepa's parents called Aslam and said that they were going to file a criminal case against him. The matters took an even more serious turn for the newly married couple when two plainclothes men came to their house in Pydhonie and asked them to report to the Pant Nagar police station.

Fearing that they might be arrested in a false case Aslam, his parents and Deepa filed for anticipatory bail seeking judicial protection from any attempts by the police to take them into custody.

Speaking to TOI, Nagesh Lohar, senior police inspector of Pant Nagar police station said that he would inquire into the matter. "We get many cases where couples inform us they are getting married but it is not possible that plainclothes policemen would visit their house," Lohar said.

The sessions court observed on Tuesday that there was no question of granting anticipatory bail as no case had been registered against the four applicants. However, it also clarified that in case an FIR was taken down, Aslam, his parents and Deepa would be given a 72-hour notice before being arrested. This would give them enough time to approach a court if a case is filed.

"In the past, the Bombay high court has had to extend a helping hand to newly married couples of an inter-community marriage when they were harassed by partisan and prejudiced government officers," said advocate Majeed Memon. He added that under the constitution every adult had the right to marry by choice and police officials must be careful while dealing with such cases.

The role of the police was under the scanner in a similar case in Kolkata where it was alleged that Rizwanur Rahman committed suicide in 2007 after he was repeatedly harassed by the police for marrying a Hindu girl Priyanka Todi, an industrialist's daughter. Similarly, in Gujarat, Babu Bajrangi, a self-styled Hindu leader, has been charged with kidnapping Hindu girls who marry outside the community and forcing them to break their marriage.