Kerala High Court refuses to interfere in inter-faith relationship between Muslim man, Christian woman

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday declined to interfere with the inter-faith relationship between one Joisna Mary Joseph and Shejin, which had sparked "love jihad" allegations in the State [Joseph v State of Kerala]..A Division Bench of Justices VG Arun and CS Sudha closed a habeas corpus petition which the woman's father had filed as it noted from interacting with her that she had entered into the relationship out of her own free will and that a notice of intended marriage under the Special Marriage Act has already been submitted. "We have interacted with the detenue. She categorically states that she has decided to interact with Shejin of her own free will and not under any sort of compulsion. She further states that as of now she is not interested in interacting with her parents which she will do at a later stage. Copy of notice of intended marriage has been submitted to the Marriage Officer, Kolanchery. Taking note of the categorical stance of the detenue and being convinced that there is no illegal detention, the petition is closed," the Court said in its order. .After interacting with Josina in court, Justice VG Arun remarked that she seems to be capable of taking her own decisions and that her choice to enter into a relationship with Shejin seems to have been well though out. "She, as we understand, is a 26 year old person who has seen the world. She worked abroad and came back. She is capable of taking her own decision," Justice Arun observed. .The relationship between the Christian woman and the Muslim man, a member of Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), the youth wing of the ruling CPI(M), grabbed headlines after a district leader from the CPI(M) itself accused Shejin of "love jihad". A section of the Christian community including nuns then staged demonstrations against the couple’s relationship.The CPI(M) district leadership later intervened by clarifying that the party never referred to inter-religious marriages as ‘love jihad" and the statement was misinterpreted. ."Love jihad" is a term used to support the conspiracy theory which claims that Muslim men marry women of other religions to convert them to Islam..The couple had decided to get married by exchanging garlands. Subsequently, they submitted an application to register their marriage under the Special Marriage Act and started living together. However, Josina's parents filed a police complaint and later filed the present Habeas Corpus petition before the High Court alleging coercion by Shejin.