Days after activist and TV personality Rahul Easwar released the controversial "Love Jihad Tapes", that show Hadiya (a Hindu woman who embraced Islam and took up the name Hadiya) questioning her mother on her choice of religion, her family has filed a complaint against Rahul.
In his complaint given to the Sub Inspector of Police (Vaikkom) Saby, Ashokan, Hadiya’s father, alleges that Rahul had cheated them by releasing the footage.
SI Saby told TNM that while they have received a complaint, the police have initiated preliminary probe on Ashokan's complaint. An FIR is yet to be lodged, he added.
On 17 August, Rahul had released a selfie photograph of him, Hadiya and Ashokan, where Hadiya was seen wearing a hijab. He also released a 1 minute 53 seconds video showing Hadiya arguing with her mother.
In a six-page complaint to the police, Ashokan alleged that Rahul had exploited the family's distress and had cheated them. Ashokan has also accused Rahul of being the tool of terrorist organisations in convincing the world that Hadiya continues to live as a Muslim.
Ashokan also said that on 17 August, Rahul visited the family again. “By then he had gained our trust. He was speaking to her in her bedroom, when I entered the room, he told me to sit on the bed along with them and took photographs and selfies.”
By leaking the photograph and video, Rahul provided fodder to the media, that ran prime time shows arguing that Hadiya was still a practicing Muslim, the complaint says.
However, Rahul had told TNM that the photographs and the video was taken with the knowledge and permission of the family. Asked whether his action had violated the court order, Rahul had said that the Kerala HC had already recorded Hadiya's statement and that a "mere technicality that the case is sub-judice shouldn't stop him from revealing the truth."
(This article was first published on The News Minute. It has been republished with permission.)
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