NEW DELHI, June 3:
Coming to the rescue of a couple belonging to different faiths, the Supreme Court today directed the Jammu and Kashmir police to protect them after the man and the woman claimed they were facing threats from the family members of the latter.
A vacation bench of Justices Prafulla C Pant and Amitava Roy also asked the Station House Officer of a police station in Jammu not to take any “coercive steps” against the couple.
It issued notices to the State police and others, including the father of the bride, on the plea of the bride- groom.
Besides seeking police protection, the couple, in their plea filed through advocates Mandeep Reen and Chetan Gupta, sought quashing of an FIR lodged at Channi Himmat police station in Jammu by the woman’s father, Yaseen Ahmed, under relevant provisions of the Ranbir Penal Code.
It has been alleged in the FIR that Dilar Singh kidnapped Ahmed’s daughter.
The newly-wed bride today told the apex court that she was a major and had “voluntarily” married Singh after converting to Sikhism.
The court then directed the State police to protect the couple. (PTI)