A 19-year-old woman from Bhopal, who was brought to see a movie called “The Kerala Story” by BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur in an attempt to discourage her from pursuing a relationship with a 27-year-old Muslim man, has gone missing from her home and is believed to have eloped with him.
The local police are searching for the couple after the woman’s mother filed a missing complaint. The man’s family expressed concerns about potential retaliation and stated that they would not welcome the woman into their household.
According to the woman’s family, she went missing on May 15 after locking her family members inside the house. They also reported that Rs 70,000 in cash, as well as gold and silver jewelry, were missing.
Although the missing report was filed on May 19, the matter gained public attention recently. The SHO of Bhopal’s Kamla Nagar police station mentioned a previous instance when the woman was thought to have gone missing but later informed the police that she had willingly married her husband and wanted to live with him. Regarding the latest missing complaint, the police are trying to locate the woman and will record her statement before deciding on the next steps.
The man’s family became aware of the relationship eight months ago when they saw the couple walking together in the neighborhood. Fearing the woman’s different religious background, they sent a message through common friends to her family, requesting them to take care of their daughter and expressing their unwillingness for her to marry their son.
According to the woman’s mother’s complaint, she had previously gone missing on May 11. At that time, she appeared in a burqa and informed her family that she had married the man. On May 15, she went missing again after locking her family members inside the house.
The woman’s father, sitting in the Bhopal Police Commissioner’s office, expressed frustration at their attempts to keep their daughter away from the man but failing to convince her.
Since being informed by the man’s family, the woman’s family has been trying to persuade her to end the relationship and marry someone else. They had taken her for counseling at a crisis center established by the Madhya Pradesh government for women who are victims of violence.
The family also sought counseling from BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur. However, the woman’s family remains anxious about the consequences of the relationship and stated that they would not accept the woman into their household due to threats from her family.
It should be noted that the woman’s account of the events and her perspective on the situation are yet to be recorded by the police.
