Moral police in modern Mumbai

The woman says she and her family are all scared. Representation pic

An interfaith couple, who had registered last month to tie the knot under the Special Marriage Act, is now living in fear. On Tuesday morning, three people barged into the woman's society in Khar West, and brainwashed her parents against her wedding with a Muslim man. After filing their application, the woman has been receiving calls and messages, and even got an anonymous letter, telling her to not marry her fiance.

Just a day after filing their application at the Registrar Of Marriage office in Khar West, the woman's family received an anonymous letter via post. The letter, written in Marathi language and addressed to her father, mentioned how he can check the information of the marriage application online and find out that she was planning to marry a Muslim man. The letter also claimed that Muslim men sell off their Hindu wife in Saudi Arabia and asked him to stop his daughter's immediately.

The office of the Registrar Of Marriage at Khar West

"My parents were scared, they didn't know what had happened. I immediately contacted the agent through whom I had registered. He told me some people take information of the couple and their families from the marriage registrar's office or from the website," she said.

The family ignored the letter and forgot about it. However, at 11.30 am on Tuesday, two men and one woman came to her house and tried to convince her against marrying her Muslim fiance.

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‘They brainwashed my dad'

"I asked them how they came inside the building. Meanwhile, my neighbour informed the housing society chairman, who asked the trio to leave the building. But they took my father and brother aside and brainwashed them. Now, my parents are against our marriage."

The woman rushed to the Khar police station and submitted her complaint.

"I told the police I was getting calls and messages asking her to not marry a Muslim. My relatives from all over Mumbai, Gujarat and Kolkata also called me. This is terrible. How can confidential information get leaked?" she questioned.

Police sources said they have received the complaint and are investigating.

Mother in trauma

The entire family and her fiance are living in fear. Her mother, a heart patient, is in trauma. They are scared of what will happen next.

Miscreants may use information submitted in marriage applications to harass interfaith couples, says a lawyer. Representation pic/AFP

"All I wanted was a peaceful life. My family is also peaceful and secular. My father had met my fiance and even liked him. But since today's episode, he is not at all ready for the wedding. He is worried about me and my fiance's life," the woman said. "I don't know if the police will help me, because they were very casual about it when I went to file the complaint. I don't know what will happen to me and to him in the future."

Vishal Satyaprakash Saxena, advocate, Bombay High Court, said "This practice of displaying notices online and offline defeats the law that says that an adult person is free to choose his or her life partner." Moreover, miscreants may use the information submitted in the application to tarnish the reputation of the woman and also for moral policing, he said.