Jain woman married to Muslim man allowed to return parental home

The Supreme Court on Monday allowed a 23-year-old Jain woman to live with her parents instead of her husband who allegedly converted to Hinduism to marry her. A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, who had directed the Chhattisgarh police to produce the woman before the apex court today (August 27), asked her some questions to ascertain her wish to leave her husband and go back to her parents.

The bench, which also comprised Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, asked her several questions like “What is your name”, “Did your marriage actually take place” and “Why don’t you want to live with your husband”.

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In the reply, the woman told the apex court that she was a major and married to Mohd Ibrahim Siddhiqui alias Aryan Arya with her own free will but now wanted to live with her parents voluntarily.

The court accorded primacy to her wish and modified the order of the High Court that had asked her to either live with her parents or be sent to a hostel and allowed her to go to her parental home straightaway.

“She has categorically stated that she does not want to go with her husband and wants to go back to her parents. In view of the aforesaid, we permit her to go back to the parents,” the court said while adding that it would not get into the legality of the marriage as she was a major and entitled to take her own decision.

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Earlier, her husband Mohd Ibrahim Siddhiqui alias Aryan Arya had filed a plea in the apex court seeking the release of his wife from her parents’ custody. He had challenged the Chhattisgarh High Court order directing the woman to either go to a hostel or her parental home.