MP High Court grants protection to interfaith couple who eloped

“The petitioners have further stated that they were wrongly advised to get married in the temple… nobody informed them that they should get their marriage registered under the Special Marriage Act. They submitted that they will get their marriage registered under the Special Marriage Act, as both of them are living together since 07.04.2022. It is further stated that being a citizen of India, they have a right to choose the life partner of their choice.”

On April 4, based on an FIR lodged by the woman’s brother, police booked Khan under IPC sections related to ‘kidnapping to compel the woman into marriage’.

Three days later, on April 7, the administration demolished three shops belonging to the family — a tiny space out of which Khan’s younger brother operated an online service centre, a tea stall and their chicken shop — claiming they were illegally constructed.

Hours later, former BJP minister Om Prakash Dhurve and party district president Narendra Singh Rajput blocked National Highway-45 demanding that Khan’s house be demolished too. A team of district officials, including Collector Ratnakar Jha and Sub Divisional Magistrate Balbir Raman, met the protesters.

The following day, with over 500 police personnel watching, the single-storey house, registered in the name of Khan’s father Haleem Khan, was razed.

Confirming the demolition, SDM Raman said, “The house was demolished as it was found to be illegal by the tehsildar. There was also communal tension in the village. People wanted the house to be razed.”

When contacted about the allegedly illegal construction, Dindori tehsildar B S Thakur said he is on leave for 20 days.

G R Salave, who holds charge in Thakur’s absence, said, “The details under which action has been taken is mentioned in the tehsildar’s order. Please apply for a copy to the Lok Seva Kendra and it can be given in three working days.”

Collector Ratnakar Jha did not respond to calls and messages by The Indian Express.

A day after the house was demolished, a video of Sakshi emerged in which she is heard saying that she willingly went with Khan. Addressing Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and the Dindori SP, she said, “I am Sakshi Sahu, resident of Shahpura in Dindori. I married Asif Khan despite opposition from my family. My husband’s family is being falsely implicated. I married him of my own will but my family is misusing facts and foisting false cases on Asif’s family. They are being tortured, their house and shops have been demolished. I urge the Chief Minister to help me or else both my husband and I will commit suicide.”

Khan’s father Haleem Khan, a small farmer, has lived in the village for over two decades with his wife and three sons. The family has moved out of the village since the demolition.

Noushad Malik, a distant relative of Khan’s, said, “They are a lower-middle-class family. Asif worked as a driver in the village panchayat. Haleem toiled a lot to build the house… it took him five years. But all it took the administration was a few minutes to raze it to the ground.”

Ramkumar Dhurvey, a farmer and resident of Shahpur village, said, “No one from the village approved of the elopement, but the house did not belong to Asif Khan; it was built by his father Haleem. How is demolishing the father’s house justified? Does the law make it mandatory for an adult to seek permission from his parents before marrying? Then how can the parents be punished?”

Irfan Malik, a member of the Jama Masjid committee, and a few other villagers had submitted a memorandum to the district collector, urging them not to demolish Khan’s house.