Delhi HC tells cops to ensure woman who converted to Islam is safe

The woman, who is working in Delhi, had said that because of her conversion, she and her family were being targeted and sought the court's directions to stop malicious content from being published in the media.

The Delhi high court on Thursday directed the city police to ensure the safety of a 29-year-old woman from Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, who alleged harassment from the UP police, media and vigilante groups after her wilful conversion to Islam.

File photo of Delhi high court.

“…given the fact that she is a young girl, I deem it appropriate to issue a limited direction to adequately ensure to protect the life and safety of the petitioner,” Justice C Hari Shankar said.

“This is a matter which appropriately should be taken by the regular bench as per the roster, given the nature of the averments in the petition. It is made clear that this vacation bench is not expressing any opinion one way or the other regarding the correctness of the said averments,” the court added.

Appearing for the commissioner of police and SHO of Jamia Nagar, advocate Sameer Vashist told the court the woman gave them an incorrect address and phone number, so she could not be contacted.

Advocate Tanya Aggarwal, appearing for the woman, told the court that her client is continuously changing her address as she is receiving threats from various fronts, including the media. She assured the court that her client’s current address and phone number would be provided to authorities for better assistance.

The woman had approached the high court on June 29 seeking protection for herself and her family, claiming that they are facing life threats and alleged a witch hunt by the UP police, media and vigilante groups after her wilful conversion from Hinduism to Islam.

The woman, who is working in Delhi, had said that because of her conversion, she and her family were being targeted and sought the court's directions to stop malicious content from being published in the media.

“The petitioner (woman) is an adult and she is protected by the Constitution to choose her own faith and she cannot be targeted and harassed for the choice she makes with regard to the religion she follows,” said the petition, filed through advocate Kamlesh Kumar Mishra.

The plea said that Renu Gangwar, alias Ayesha Alvi, converted to Islam on May 27 in Delhi and since June 23, when she was in Shahjahanpur, she started getting calls from media persons requesting for a meeting.

While she refused such requests, the plea claimed that media persons came to her place without her permission and took her photographs and videos, following which she started getting threat calls demanding money if she did not want news about her conversion, which they claimed would get her arrested, published in the media.

The plea claimed one of them forcibly took ₹20,000 even as others too tried to extort money from her and her family. The plea further alleged that absurd and imaginary details are being reported in media regarding her conversion.

The woman, in her plea, said she gave a complaint to the Delhi Police commissioner on June 24, seeking immediate intervention for her protection, but no action has been taken on her complaint yet.

It sought direction to the authorities to ensure that the woman is not taken away from Delhi by force or coercion by any government agency or person, and sought protection for her and her family.

The plea further sought direction to the media not to publish or broadcast any malicious content regarding her and not to divulge her personal details and also remove the contents already shown.