Now Reading: Allahabad HC orders ₹25 lakh for sisters confined after conversion
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Allahabad HC orders ₹25 lakh for sisters confined after conversion
The Allahabad High Court last week ordered the father of two adult sisters and the Uttar Pradesh government to jointly pay ₹25 lakh compensation for illegally confining them after they converted from…
The Story in Brief
The Allahabad High Court last week ordered the father of two adult sisters and the Uttar Pradesh government to jointly pay ₹25 lakh compensation for illegally confining them after they converted from Hinduism to Islam. The sisters, Diya Bhatia (20) and Anshu Bhatia (35), told the court they voluntarily embraced Islam in 2020 and 2021. They said their father confined them against their wishes. The court noted their responses were "spontaneous, coherent and unequivocal" and held that adults have constitutional autonomy over faith and residence. The state opposed the petition citing an FIR alleging forcible conversion, but the court said detention legality is separate from conversion legality.
The Indian Opinion
The sisters' conversion and alleged confinement highlight a recurring tension between personal liberty and parental authority in India. Some narratives frame interfaith conversion as inherently suspicious, while others dismiss all family opposition as bigotry. The court rightly separated the issues: conversion compliance can be probed later, but confinement of adults is illegal. The ₹25 lakh compensation sets a strong precedent. The test will be whether the father and state actually pay, and whether the investigation into the conversion proceeds without bias.
Source: livelaw.in
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
