Alfia, a Muslim woman from Kayamkulam who had decided to marry a Hindu man Akhil, at a temple in Kovalam, was taken away minutes before her wedding by the police after a complaint by her father.
The complaint was reportedly filed even though the two familes had met earlier and agreed to Alfia going with Akhil.
In a video of the incident, the bride is seen screaming at police personnel, and saying that she did not want to go with them. However, the police eventually took her away.
On Sunday, June 18, a dramatic scene unfolded when the Kayamkulam police in Kerala stopped an interfaith couple from getting married.
Akhil and Alfia, the couple, had decided to get married to each other of their own volition. According to reports, the duo reached the Sri Madan Tampuran temple in Malavila Panamoot on KS Road, Kovalam at 5 pm on Sunday.
The Kayamkulam police reached the site and manhandled the groom and did not allow him to go near the bride. They also forcefully took the bride away.
The action was reportedly taken based on a complaint lodged by the Muslim girl’s family. The girl’s family reportedly knew she intended to marry the Hindu youth of her own free will, but even after that they reportedly filed a missing person report to separate the two and obviously frame the Hindu boy for a crime he had not committed.
According to reports, Alfia, a Kayamkulam native, and Akhil, a Kovalam native from KS Road, fell in love. Alfia came to Kovalam last Friday after deciding to settle down with Akhil. Then, on Friday (June 16) night, Alfia’s family and Akhil’s family met with the assistance of the Ward Member and SI of the Kovalam Police Station, and Alfia was permitted to go with Akhil.
The couple reached the temple but minutes before they could get married, police officers from the Kayamkulam town, from where the Muslim bride belonged, arrived in two vehicles. They stopped the wedding and forcibly dragged her away.
Narrating what transpired just minutes before they were to marry, Akhil said, ”The police arrived in two vehicles from Kayamkulam. They stopped the wedding from happening and forcibly dragged her away.”
The couple on Monday told the media that the bride was, thereafter, taken to a magisterial court where she gave a statement that she had left with the groom of her own free will and wanted to go with him.
”After recording my statement, I was allowed to leave with Akhil who had also reached there,” she said.
Meanwhile, a senior police officer of Alappuzha district said that there was a missing person complaint lodged in Kayamkulam police station and as part of it they had to produce the woman before a court there.
”The officers were directed to produce the woman before the court. So they were just doing their duty. Not aware of any use of force by them. The girl told the court she wants to leave with the groom and she left with him,” the officer told the media.
Alfia, meanwhile, said that the police took her away despite she has already given a statement a few days back that she was leaving with Akhil, whom she knew for over a year, of her own free will to get married to him.
”The missing person complaint was lodged in Kayamkulam police station after that. It was done by my parents. They do not want me to live with him. They want to take me away,” she lamented.
However, after recording her statement, the court let her go with Akhil and the couple are set to marry soon.