KOZHIKODE: Hadiya, whose marriage to a Muslim youth had triggered a nationwide controversy, has demanded compensation from the state government for the loss she incurred after the high court nullified her marriage and sent her away with her parents.
“There were some reports in the media that I demanded compensation from my parents. That is absolutely wrong. I sought compensation from the state government,” she told a news conference here on Monday.
“My legal struggle lasted roughly for two years and the six months I spent with my parents were horrible. I was literally under house arrest. I lost two precious years of my life. I don’t think my parents would want to harm me but they were under the influence of some anti-national forces,” Hadiya said without elaborating which forces she was referring to. “They are using them (parents) for political benefits,” she added.
Narrating her experience at her house, Hadiya said all those who visited her wanted her to return to Sanatana Dharma. “The police who were deployed at the house were subservient to the visitors. They didn’t take my complaints seriously,” she said, adding that she has not withdrawn the complaints against Rahul Eashwar, who allegedly tried to convert her back to Hinduism. Hadiya wanted the government to release the list of persons who had come to her house during the period. “Even psychiatrists have come to my house. Some of the visitors had told me that they came with the consent of judges,” she said.
Asked whether her mother had tried to poison her, as alleged in the affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, Hadiya said she stands by all that she said in the document.
Hadiya, who met the media along with her husband on Monday, Shefin Jahan, said she would like to meet her parents soon. “It is mandatory in the religion I believe to give respect to parents. I have not spoken to them after the Supreme Court verdict because I want to give them some time to accept the reality,” she said.