The Kerala High Court on Thursday declined to extend the transit bail granted to the husband of Monalisa Bhonsle, a young girl who shot to fame during the Prayagraj Kumbh Mela, saying that he should move a court in Madhya Pradesh for any relief.
Justice Kauser Edappagath dismissed as not maintainable the plea for extension of the one month transit bail granted to the girl's husband Mohd Farman on June 3.
Farman is accused of kidnapping Bhonsle in a case registered by the Madhya Pradesh Police on a complaint by her father, who has alleged that she is a minor.
While her family and right-wing groups have described the marriage as a case of "love jihad", Bhonsle has maintained that she married Farman of her own free will and that the marriage was solemnised according to Hindu customs. She also claimed that she had persuaded Farman to marry her and said neither of them had changed their religion.
The couple in their joint bail plea had claimed that if they go to Madhya Pradesh, they would be subjected to honour killing by the fundamentalists since they belong to different religions.
Advocate P S Anishad, who represented Farman, said that his client's plea for anticipatory bail was rejected by the jurisdictional sessions court in Madhya Pradesh, following which he moved the Kerala High Court to extend the transit bail.
On June 3, the High Court had given Farman the liberty to approach the jurisdictional court in MP and seek anticipatory bail in accordance with law within a period of one month.
While granting the relief, it had also observed that his wife prima facie appears to be a major.
Besides the offence of kidnapping, Farman has also been booked for crimes under sections 81 (cohabitation caused by a man deceitfully inducing a belief of lawful marriage), 83 (fraudulent marriage ceremony) and 87 (abducting for marriage) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 and the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
The Indore girl had shot to fame after a virtual content creator shared a video of her selling rudraksh garlands at Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, last year.