Several cameras pointed straight at a yellow college bus, and a sea of mics thrust towards the door of the bus. On Friday morning, several media persons waited in anticipation to hear Hadiya’s response after the Supreme Court upheld her marriage to Shafin Jahan.

"I am very happy with the SC order. I wish to go back to Kerala," Hadiya said, while getting off her college – Sivaraj College in Salem – bus. 

“I am satisfied with the order. I am being protected here and Tamil Nadu is cooperating,” she added.

When asked about the significance of the verdict coming out on Women’s Day, she said, "It is a positive move, of course. It shows that women have value in this country, that there is value for what a woman does."

On Thursday, the apex court upheld her marriage to Shafin, which was annulled by the Kerala High Court in 2017. This, after her father, Aoskan, opposed her conversion to Islam and moved the HC in January 2016 against it.

Although the first habeas corpus was disposed, citing that Hadiya was an adult woman who can choose her religion for herself, her father filed a second habeas corpus petition in August.

While the case was subjudice, Hadiya married Shafin in December, following which the HC annulled the marriage, terming it a sham. This forced Shafin to move the apex court against the HC order. 

Hadiya, who was sent back in the custody of her parents, was put under house arrest from May to November 2017. In that period, she was denied access to people. She was sent back to her college in Salem to complete her education after she appeared in the apex court to give her statement on November 27. 

After the SC order upholding their marriage, Shafin took to Facebook to thank people for their support in the legal battle that spanned several months. 

"Thank you, almighty for this. Thank you for everyone for your prayers," he wrote.