Woman alleges family holding her captive, wants to meet husband

Nearly three weeks after a 29-year-old Muslim man was arrested by the police in Ghaziabad’s Indirapuram for allegedly kidnapping her and pressuring her into marrying him, Sonika Chauhan told Scroll that the accused man is her husband and did not do anything of this sort.

Their marriage, she said, was registered under the Special Marriage Act on August 29, 2022. Scroll has seen a copy of the marriage certificate and verified its authenticity by speaking to one of the witnesses listed in it.

Chauhan, 25, alleged that her family was holding her “captive” against her wishes and coercing her to divorce her husband, Akbar Khan.

“My mother took away my phone,” she said. “My family shifts me from one place to another every few days. They threatened me saying they would kill my husband’s family. They said that nobody could take me away from them and record my statement in court.”

Chauhan’s family did not respond to interview requests. However, the police dismissed her allegations.

“There is no such issue,” said Abhishek Srivastava, Indirapuram’s assistant commissioner of police. “Her statement is due to be recorded in court. We will take whatever legal steps we need to take on the basis of her statement.”

Chauhan was not satisfied with the role that the police have played so far.

“They are not doing their duty,” she added. “Why was my husband put behind bars for no reason? Those who should have been in jail were left free to run riot in our shops and destroy them.”

Two tumultuous days

Chauhan was referring to the rioting that took place in Indirapuram’s Nyay Khand neighbourhood on May 26. According to the police’s first information report about the incident, a mob of about “50-60 people” attacked the couple’s businesses that evening. Chauhan ran a beauty parlour and Khan operated a centre that assisted clients to fill out government forms. The police have yet to make any arrests in the case.

The trouble for the couple had begun on May 24, when Chauhan’s parents turned up at her beauty parlour. Her father told newspapers and local politicians that he had learned of her marriage only that day.

But his daughter dismissed this claim. She also shared an image of her father with her husband that was purportedly clicked at the inauguration of her beauty parlour. “Everyone in my family knew,” she said.

In the parlour, Chauhan alleged that her parents abused and assaulted the couple, forcing them to flee. After running away from there, she posted videos on social media saying that her family was acting on instructions of Hindutva groups.

But in a complaint her father filed with the police, he claimed that he had gone there to rescue his daughter, who he said was being held against her wishes by Khan and his family. He accused Khan of hitting him, snatching his wife’s jewellery and forcing them to approve of the marriage.

On May 25, the police arrested Khan and handed over Chauhan to her family “as she wished”, according to police documents seen by Scroll. Khan ended up spending two weeks in prison before he was released on bail on June 8.

“My family did not even let me meet him when he came out,” she complained.

‘I am being tortured’

Their relationship began when they were both teenagers, Chauhan told Scroll. They grew up less than a kilometre apart, she said, and started spending all their time together after she completed school.

She shared dozens of pictures from over the years that show the couple in gaming arcades, highway dhabas and her hometown in Uttarakhand. In these images, the families can be seen celebrating birthdays, weddings and festivals like Diwali together.

Chauhan said she could not understand why her parents had turned against her marriage now. She also expressed fear about her safety.

“I am being tortured so much that I will go mad,” she said. “Sometimes I feel like ending my life. But if something happens to me, they will not let my husband and his family live in peace. I just want to meet him once.”

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