Interfaith marriage ceremony held after being called off in Maharashtra

Mumbai, July 22

Ten days after the parents of a 28-year-old woman in Maharashtra's Nashik district called off her marriage ceremony with a Muslim man due to pressure from their Hindu community members, the ceremony was held on Thursday, family sources said.

Rasika Adgaonkar and Asif Khan were married at a hotel in Nashik as per Hindu rites, followed by a ‘nikah' ceremony in the Muslim tradition, the sources said.

In a letter to his community's body earlier this month, the woman's father, a jeweller, had said they decided not to go ahead with the July 18 wedding ceremony following protests on social media after the wedding invitation card went viral.

Rasika and Asif had a registered marriage in May were scheduled to tie the nuptial knot at the July 18 ceremony, which the online protesters had described as a case of ‘love jihad'.

A member of Rasika's community said Asif was her private tutor a few years ago and that was how they got to know each other.

The registered marriage did not evoke any harsh reaction within the community but her family came under a lot of pressure after the invitation card of the wedding ceremony went viral on social media, a community member said.

Social media posts and messages related to the marriage ceremony were widely circulated on WhatsApp groups and the woman's family members also received telephonic threats, he said.

The woman's father, who is an office-bearer of the community body, consulted family members after the stiff opposition on social media and decided to call off the July 18 wedding ceremony.

However, the ceremony was held on Thursday after the controversy subsided. PTI