“This shining victory is an outstanding achievement because it comes at the end of countless prayers, relentless struggles of separation and imprisonment, love, patience and so on.” These were the words used by Shafin Jahan, who announced on his Facebook account that his wife, Hadiya Asokan, is now a doctor.
Shafin attached a picture of Hadiya in the Facebook post, in which she can be seen sporting a doctor’s coat and a stethoscope. “Finally You reached an important destination out of all odds. Very proud to address you a Doctor,” Shafin wrote, addressing her as “Dr Hadiya Asokan.”
Speaking to TNM, Shafin says that Hadiya deserves this moment of success as she had to go through a lot to get where she is. “We are really happy. This is an achievement and includes the prayers of a lot of people. Hadiya worked really hard for this. She had to go through different phases to get to where she is now. Firstly, there was our separation, then she was under house arrest, the state government was also against us, Despite this, she waited patiently and worked hard,” says Shafin.
Hadiya, who was born to Hindu parents in Vaikom in Kerala’s Kottayam, had converted to Islam during her college days in Salem much to the dislike of her father, Asokan, who alleged that the conversion was forceful and illegal.
Hadiya married Shafin in December 2016, while the High Court of Kerala was still hearing the petition filed by her father alleging that steps were being taken to take her to Syria and marry a Muslim man. When the High Court learned that she had married Shafin, it said that they were not convinced about the wedding, and sent Hadiya to a ladies hostel in Ernakulam.
In May 2017, the Kerala HC annulled their wedding, stating that Shafin was “only a stooge who has been assigned to play the role of going through a marriage ceremony” and gave Hadiya’s custody to her parents. Following this, she was not allowed by her father to leave home until November 2017.
On November 27, 2017, the Supreme Court permitted her to complete her house surgency as per her desire. The order had also allowed her to meet anyone she wished to. On March 8, 2018, following a lengthy legal fight, the Supreme Court upheld their marriage.