"You need to get me out. I will be killed anytime, tomorrow or the day after, I am sure. I know my father is getting angry. When I walk, he is hitting and kicking me. If my head or any other part of my body hits somewhere and I die..."
This is what 25-year-old Hadiya (born Akhila), sitting on her bed at her home in Kottayam's Vaikkom, wearing a head scarf, says.
The video is just 16 seconds long and was taken on 17 August by Rahul Easwar.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on 30 October directed Hadiya’s father Ashokan to produce her in court on 27 November at 3 pm.
In the video, Hadiya is rushing through her words, as she speaks about her house arrest. The young Muslim convert’s marriage to a man called Shafin Jahan was annulled by the Kerala High Court in May this year. Hadiya, who was taken away by her parents, has not been allowed to step out of her house even once in all these months.
The video that Rahul Easwar released at a press meet held in Ernakulam on 26 October ends abruptly mid-sentence.
So who was Hadiya blaming if any tragedy should befall her? Rahul isn’t willing to say.
“I could not release the entire footage as it can cause communal issues," he told The News Minute.
Asked about the timing of the release of the footage, Rahul said:
After I released the first video, Hadiya’s father Ashokan, had moved legally against me, accusing me of breach of trust. Now the HC has said that his case won’t stand. In that circumstance, I can confidently release the footage.
In the first video that Rahul had released, Hadiya can be heard saying, “Is this how I should live? Is this my life?" This, while her mother Ponnamma is seen crying and lamenting about how her only daughter was misled into embracing Islam.
Rahul said that he hasn't released the entire footage, since there was communal content in it and said that he had already submitted the footage to Justice RV Raveendran on 23 August. Justice Raveendran was appointed by the SC to monitor the NIA probe.
"I followed all legal steps and mailed the video to Justice Raveendran. But when he did not take up the case, I gave a written complaint to the Women's Commission and also submitted the footage to them," he said.
With the next hearing of the case scheduled on 30 October, Rahul said that "Hadiya's rights cannot be compromised with."
“Her position also needs to be heard. While as a parent, her father may beat her up, she cannot live like that for an eternity. Although I am sympathetic towards the parents, I understand all of their sides,” he said.
The video was released only hours after Gopal Menon, who is directing a documentary called I am Hadiya revealed that Rahul was in possession of a video in which Hadiya confessed that she was being harassed by her father.
Ironically, Rahul has released the video, at a time when the Kottayam SP in his report to the State Human Rights Commission said that there was no human rights violation happening with Hadiya. Although neither the commission, nor the police were able to meet Hadiya in person and record her statement, a commission member told TNM that he was surprised that the police had come to such a conclusion.
(This article was originally published in The News Minute)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)