Where is Hadiya and why did her father file a Habeas Corpus?
Hadiya, the PFI-supported controversial poster girl in the Love Jihad marriage case is in the news again after her father Ashokan on Wednesday approached the Kerala High Court with a habeas corpus petition to know about her whereabouts, hearing her secret second marriage. According to Hadiya’s father Ashokan, his daughter a few weeks back confirmed to him over the phone about her “secretive marriage’ with one Khalid Dastagir after divorcing Shafin Jehan, who appealed to the Supreme Court to marry Hadiya.[1]
Ashokan’s advocate Rajendran confirmed to the media that in the petition, the father pointed out that there is complete secrecy in Hadiya’s divorce procedures with Shafin Jehan and recent second marriage with a person named Khalid Dastagir from Thiruvananthapuram. The High Court is expected to take up the petition on Friday, said Advocate Rajendran, adding that the father wanted to know the whereabouts of his daughter.
Hadiya, whose first name was Akhila was studying Homeopathy and got attracted to Islam in 2015. Her father Ashokan approached authorities, accusing her friends from Islam religion and A S Zainaba, the head of Popular Front of India’s (PFI) women’s wing. In the meantime to save from cases of illegal control, the PFI conducted Hadiya’s marriage with one Shafin Jehan. But Kerala High Court cancelled the marriage citing a lot of violations of Islamic traditions in 2016.
Later in March 2018, the Supreme Court approved the marriage of Hadiya and Shafin Jehan, after taking her version. PFI fielded senior lawyers Kapil Sibal and Indira Jaisingh. Later Enforcement Directorate’s raid at PFI offices showed that Kapil Sibal was given a hefty fee of Rs.75 lakh and Indira Jaisingh was given Rs.5 lakh.
The previous year, Hadiya’s father Ashokan many times complained that whenever he and his family visited his daughter in the Malappuram area, they faced heavy scrutiny from the PFI cadre. “Her clinic was surrounded by a lot of people from the PFI cadre and my daughter was not talking freely and looked in a fearful state of mind,” said Ashokan to the media.
He said he had no information about Shafin Jehan for a long time. “Now through some friends in the media, I came to know she separated from Shafin and married one Khalid Dastagir in July. Everything including divorce procedures as per Islamic traditions were not known to us. So in August, I called her and she confirmed to me that she married again and did not share the details of her new husband.
“When I was talking, his (Khalid Dastagir) mother also came on line and confirmed the second marriage. But they did not share any details. Said he is working as a GM. That is all. No further details like the GM of which company. She was angry with me for talking to the media about her secret second marriage,” said Ashokan, detailing the secretive ways of divorce of the first marriage and second marriage.
Reference:
[1] Hadiya, the PFI-supported poster girl of controversial Love Jihad case marries again – Dec 02, 2023, PGurus.com
Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.
