Kerala's Hadiya safe, 'happy and smiling', says women’s panel post-visit

Hadiya is in good health and waiting to appear before the Supreme Court on November 27, the NCW's chairperson in-charge Rekha Sharma said on Monday after meeting the Kerala woman, at the centre of a nationwide controversy after her marriage with a Muslim man.

The meeting came amid complaints from various Kerala-based Muslim bodies that the woman's rights were being violated in the confines of her home.

The 24-year-old woman is under the protection of her parents following the orders of the Kerala High Court.

The court had annulled her marriage with Shafin Jahan after her parents argued that he was a radicalised person.

"I just met Akhila - Hadiya. NCW was concerned about her well being. She is in good health, she has not been beaten up or anything, she is eating her food and she was smiling, she was happy," Sharma said.

The woman's health and security was "OK", she said after meeting Hadiya at her family home in Vaikom, a week after the apex court directed her father to produce her before it on November 27.

"Three policewomen are there. They are taking care of her and her security is under no threat," Sharma said, showing the media, the woman's photo on her mobile phone.

She claimed that the woman did not face any "atrocities" at her parents' home.

"She said she is willing to go to court. She is waiting for November 27. I am OK. I will talk to the court. That is what she said," Sharma said.

The National Commission for Women (NCW) official refused to divulge details, as the matter was subjudice, and said that she would meet "several such women" who were "forced" to convert in Kerala, and a report would be prepared.

"I am not using the 'Love Jihad' word. I will use forced conversion. That's all. Because a few women who were forced to convert came in the morning. I am meeting few more women in other parts of Kerala. Then we will prepare a report on that," she said.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra, and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud had on October 30 asked that Hadiya be produced on November 27 for an interaction.

The bench is likely to assess her mental stage and whether she had given free consent to the marriage.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA), represented by Additional Solicitor General Maninder Singh, has informed the court that there was a well-oiled machinery working in Kerala and they are indulging in the indoctrination and

radicalisation of the society in the state, where as many as 89 cases of similar nature have been reported.

Jahan, allegedly a member of the radical Islamic outfit Popular Front of India, had on September 20 approached the apex court seeking recall of its August 16 order directing the NIA to investigate the controversial case of conversion and marriage of a Hindu woman with him.

He had moved the apex court after the Kerala High Court annulled his marriage, saying it was an insult to the independence of women in the country.