More than six months after 25-year-old Hadiya was put under house arrest at her home in Kottayam district, the Muslim convert is set to appear at the Supreme Court on November 27.
The apex court that is hearing an appeal against the Kerala High Court annulling her marriage to a Muslim man Shafin Jahan, had on October 30, asked her father Ashokan to produce her in court.
Now, with days left for Hadiya to appear in court and speak her side of the matter for the first time since the case was taken up by the SC, her father Ashokan filed a fresh petition on Tuesday.
In the new petition, Ashokan has sought in-camera proceedings, claiming that an open court hearing will put mental pressure on Hadiya. Ordering Hadiya to be produced, the SC bench had earlier said that it will conduct the hearing in an open court.
Apart from requesting an in-camera interaction, Ashokan has requested the presence of AS Sainaba of Markazul Hidaya Sathyasarany Educational and Charitable Trust, in court. She is the eighth respondent in the case.
Ashokan has also sought permission to submit additional documents in court.
A few days ago, Shafin Jahan had moved the SC against the National Investigation Agency (NIA). In his petition, he said that the NIA investigation must be stopped and requested for a contempt of court case against NIA DySP Vikraman for investigating the case, despite retired justice Raveendran turning down SC direction to monitor the probe.
Background
Hadiya's (born Akhila) marriage to Shafin Jahan was annulled by the Kerala HC in May this year, after the court called it a "sham marriage".
In August 2016, Hadiya's father Ashokan filed a habeas corpus petition alleging that his daughter who had converted to Islam, is likely to be married off to a Muslim man and be taken to Syria to join the terror outfit ISIS.
Months later in December, while the case was sub judice, Hadiya married Shafin. Following this, the court raised suspicion on her marriage and ordered an inquiry into Shafin's whereabouts, before annulling the marriage.
The HC order invited severe criticism from activists and Muslim organisations. In July, Shafin moved a special leave petition against the Kerala HC order.