The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the National Investigation Agency to inquire a case of alleged conversion of a Hindu woman in Kerala. Earlier, the court had asked the police to share details of the case – where the Hindu girl was allegedly being radicalised after being forced to convert – with the NIA.
A bench of Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar and Justice DY Chandrachud said the court “shall require the presence of the girl” before announcing its decision, reported the Hindustan Times. The bench said it would take a final call after getting inputs from all the involved parties. The order came after Kapil Sibal, who was appearing for the petitioner, Shefin Jahan, said the court should make its decision after speaking with the girl.
The NIA’s investigation will be supervised by former Supreme Court judge RV Raveendran. Earlier, the agency had told the Supreme Court that love jihad is for real. “There is a pattern to convert Hindu girls and get them married to Muslim men,” NIA told the apex court, according to News18.
In May 2017, the Kerala High Court had annulled the marriage between Jahan, 27, and Akhila after her parents filed a complaint alleging that she had been forced to convert to Islam and change her name to Hadiya. The 24-year-old woman had denied this claim. There were also allegations that she had been forced to convert by people with links to the Islamic State group.
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