Mangaluru Police rescue woman kept captive by family for relationship with Muslim; couple say they 'don't want repeat of Hadiya case'

A week after Mangaluru police rescued a 24-year-old Hindu woman who was allegedly confined by her mother for over two years for falling in love with a Muslim man, her lover said he has lost all hope of being together with his beloved. “Five years ago, we had decided that we will either live together or die together. Living together seems impossible. So, we will die together,” Manas NM told Firstpost on Tuesday after meeting his lawyer at the Kerala High Court. Police rescued Anjali Prakash, 24, a resident of Thrissur in Kerala from a rented house in Mangaluru on 1 May. Five days later, in a video aired on a Malayalam news channel, Anjali is seen blaming her mother and right-wing goons for confining her illegally and torturing her for over two years at various locations, including hospitals, yoga centres and rented houses. “This could be my last video. My life is under threat and if something happens to me, my mother is responsible for it. I have suffered enough in the last two years for having loved a Muslim man. I was sent to an orphanage run by the RSS for two months and now I am in Mangaluru, confined by the BJP, at a rented house. I have suffered a lot,” Anjali says in the video. She adds that her mother had taken her to Amrita hospital in Kochi for psychiatric treatment before confining her in Mangaluru. [caption id=“attachment_4463073” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Karnataka police. Getty images[/caption] After rescuing Anjali, a Mangaluru court sent her to a Mahila Mandiram (women’s shelter) as she refused to go with her mother. But hearing a separate case, the Kerala High Court in a verdict said that Anjali would be released only under the custody of her mother. Manas said that despite him filing a habeas corpus petition at the Kerala High Court, Anjali’s mother managed to get a medical certificate from Amrita hospital proving Anjali as being mentally unfit. Manas, 29, who filed a petition at the Kerala High Court to rescue Anjali, fears his actions might get him killed. “So, now, I don’t know what to do with the case. My life is in danger. I fear and doubt that I have been followed and something might happen to me,” he said, adding that the women’s shelter where Anjali is being kept is “guarded by right-wing goons.” Manas told Firstpost that he had known Anjali for years and was a family friend. “I run a poultry farm. I was like a family friend for them. When her (Anjali’s) father fell ill, it was I who took him to the hospital. I have supported the family a lot. Eventually, we fell in love. But things changed after her father passed away. Since then, her mother started to behave differently (with me),” he said, adding, “I am 29 now and she is 24. We will wait to see what is going to happen. If we cannot be together, we will die.” Anjali said that her mother told residents in her area that she was working in Mangaluru. “None of that is true; I am not working here, or taking care of my mother. Whatever she said is wrong. When I say I want to go back home, I get beaten up," she added. Anjali’s case brings back memories of the Hadiya case, where Hadiya (formerly Akhila Ashokan) had converted to Islam after marrying a Muslim man. The Kerala High Court had ruled in favour of Hadiya’s father and gave him her custody. But after her husband Shafin Jahan moved the Supreme Court, the apex court overturned the High Court decision and finally recognised Hadiya’s marriage. Notably, dismissing another verdict by the Kerala High Court in a case where a couple eloped against their parents’ wish, the Supreme Court ruled , that “it would not be out of place to mention that a ‘live-in relationship’ is now recognised by the legislature itself which has found its place under the provisions of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005.” But Manas said that his lawyer has clearly told him to give up all hope of being together with Anjali again. He added that some Muslim political parties have approached him, offering help. “They are offering money and manpower to fight the case, but I clearly said no. Even in court, I was branded as a radical Muslim person and our relation was called ‘love jihad.’ I don’t want that. Ours is pure love. We don’t want to repeat what happened in the Hadiya case,” said Manas. The police had booked Anjali’s mother for illegally confining her daughter in the house and detaining her. But she was later released on interim bail. The author is a member of The NewsCart, a Bengaluru-based media startup