Interfaith couple's love story brought to an end after Madhya Pradesh advocate 'warns of trouble'

A Hindu woman from Indore ended her marriage with the Muslim man she eloped within a few minutes after she told her parents and a local court that she wanted to live with him, the Indian Express reported. The change of heart, the report added, happened after the girl was asked to meet the judge handling the case individually.

According to the report, Sameer Khan, a resident of Khajrana locality of Indore met Neelam Mehroliya through a common friend. Khan had studied up to Class X, while Mehroliya was a commerce graduate. While the couple had expressed love for one another, their parents opposed the relationship.

On September 3, 2017, the two of them eloped, and got married three days later. The guests included a handful of his friends and some relatives, Khan claims.

Khan and Mehroliya lived in a friend’s home in Indore, and her parents filed a missing person’s complaint. The couple then went to the police station after a few members of Khan’s family were detained, where Mehroliya said she would record a statement and return to her parents to convince them that this marriage was what she wanted.  This was on September 8.

Khan says that after Mehroliya went home, all his attempts to contact her were blocked. In late January, he moved the Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, alleging that his wife had been kept in illegal detention and asking the court to unite them.

When Mehroliya was produced before the Indore bench of the High Court on February 26, she initially told the judge she wanted to go back to Khan, adding that her only condition was that he should not marry again and that she wouldn’t change her name. Khan says Mehroliya was brainwashed to make those demands, and adds that as these were inconsequential for him, he readily agreed.

Then, advocates representing Mehroliya’s parents and the government argued that Mehroliya was confused and should be heard in the judge’s chamber. Only she and the advocates were allowed inside. When the court again met, Mehroliya said she wanted to remain with her parents.

The government advocate said, “We convinced her that the marriage wouldn’t do any good for her. We told her to stand on her own feet, find a job and wait a year or two. And that if the boy (Khan) waited for her, she would know (if he loved her).”

Archana Kher, the government advocate believes Mehroliya changed her mind realising “that the marriage will create problems for both families”. As for the nikahnama, Kher says it “did not seem genuine because it was not dated”.