Prashanth Bhandary (33), a Bajrang Dal member, recently married a 19-year-old Muslim woman named Ayesha in Karnataka’s Surathkal. Ayesha's mother, Modinbi, filed a missing complaint at Surathkal Police Station on December 1, stating that her daughter had not returned home since November 30. The First Information Report (FIR) revealed that their neighbour, Prashanth, approached Modinbi on November 30 expressing his intention to marry Ayesha. He claimed to have been in love with her for three years and sought Modinbi’s approval for the union.
According to the FIR, Modinbi insisted that Prashanth must seek permission from Ayesha's father and relatives before proceeding. Ayesha herself insisted on going with Prashanth, fearing that otherwise her mother might send her to the village. Prashanth promised to bring her back home the next day, along with his mother and sister.
However, when Ayesha failed to return home, Modinbi filed a complaint with the police. A week later, on December 8, Ayesha and Prashanth appeared at the police station as a married couple.
Interestingly, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Sharan Pumpwell took to Facebook to share a photo of the newlyweds, extending wishes for a happy married life. In the post, he mentioned the name change from Ayesha to Akshatha and added that the couple celebrated the union in accordance with Hindu traditions. He wrote, “From Ayesha to Akshatha. From a true love, Prashanth and Akshatha have entered into wedlock as per Hindu tradition.”
Though this would have been just another instance of an interfaith wedding, the marriage has been widely reported as a case of ‘reverse love jihad’. Moreover, Prashanth, a rowdy sheeter accused in several cases, was an activist against ‘love jihad’, according to Kannada media.
Love jihad is a bogey propagated by right-wing organisations alleging that Muslim men lure Hindu and Christian women into marriage and force them to convert to Islam. Leaders like Pramod Muthalik of the Sri Ram Sene have been asking Hindu men to marry Muslim women.
Read: ‘For every Hindu girl, trap 10 Muslim women’: Sri Rama Sene’s Pramod Muthalik
Also read: BJP MP Pragya Thakur calls for Hindus to keep knives sharp to counter ‘love jihad’
Prashanth Bhandary is a close associate of Deepak Rao and one of the accused in the Pinky Nawaz assault case from 2018. The case involved the brutal attack and murder of BJP worker Deepak Rao by four individuals, with Pinky as the prime accused. Prashanth and his associates were arrested in an attempt to murder case of Pinky.