If an adult woman decides to marry and convert to another religion on her free will, no one has the right to stop her, the Calcutta High Court ruled out on Monday.
The court was hearing a case filed by a father to trace his “missing” 19-year-old daughter who was later revealed to be married and converted to the religion of her husband, who is a Muslim.
In her statement, the woman had told police that she was neither coerced to marry nor forced to change her religion. Everything she did was on her own will and she does not wish to return to her parental home, the woman had said.
“If an adult marries as per her choice and decides to convert and not return to her parental house, there can be no interference in the matter,” the bench of justices Sanjib Banerjee and Arijit Banerjee observed.
The father of the woman, a peasant from Nadia district, had said that his daughter had left home on September 15 saying she was going to the bank but did not return home. Next day, they learnt that she has converted and adopted a Muslim name after a marrying a Muslim name.
“I would not have doubted her intention had the marriage been formalised under the Special Marriage Act, 1954 that provides for inter-religious marriages, but she changed her religion and got married within 24 hours,” TOI quoted the father as saying.
The court has suggested the woman to meet the HC’s additional public prosecutor in his chamber without anyone — including her husband.
