This is an archive article published on February 21, 2025
Madhya Pradesh again: Interfaith couple who went to register their marriage roughed up in court
Police say the man has filed a complaint and they will probe the role of lawyers in the assault; Bar Association members say lawyers had nothing to do with it
3 min readBhopalUpdated: Feb 21, 2025 10:36 PM IST
The couple in court. Trouble began when the two walked into a lawyer’s chamber and the woman, who was wearing a burqa, revealed her name, police said. (Express Photo)
An interfaith couple was allegedly assaulted inside the district court in Madhya Pradesh’s Rewa – the second such incident this month.
According to the police, the Muslim man and Hindu woman had come to register their marriage. Trouble began when the two walked into a lawyer’s chamber and the woman, who was wearing a burqa, revealed her name, police said.
Suspecting foul play, some lawyers demanded to see the man’s Aadhaar card, and upon discovering his religious identity, accused him of “love jihad” before allegedly assaulting him, police said.
Court proceedings had already been halted for the day because of a lawyers’ strike, leaving advocates attending to old files in their chambers.
As the altercation unfolded, more lawyers allegedly joined in, intensifying the attack on the man. Local police were informed and Civil Lines SHO Kamlesh Sahu arrived at the scene with three personnel.
Sahu found an angry crowd at the court premises and forced his way into the gathering to rescue the couple. “The woman had a Hindu name but was dressed in a burqa, so they got angry. She belongs to an upper caste family. They were being roughed up and pushed around,” Sahu told The Indian Express.
Sahu and his team managed to extract the man, whose shirt had been torn, while the woman was taken in a police jeep to the nearest safe house. “They have been in a relationship for over a year and wanted to marry. The man works as a labourer and their parents have not come forward so far. We managed to save them, and that’s what matters now,” he said.
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Additional Superintendent of Police Vivek Kumar told The Indian Express, “We have registered an FIR against unidentified persons for assaulting the man. He has come forward with the complaint. We are looking into the role of lawyers as well. No arrest has been made and no counter-complaint has been made against the man by the lawyers.”
Advocate D S Ojha, president of the Rewa Bar Association, said, “This incident has nothing to do with lawyers. They were just on protest against the proposed Advocates (Amendment) Bill.”
Advocate Adarsh Dubey, a bar association member, said, “The man came to marry around 3:30 pm. The lawyers intervened and called the police. There was no assault. They must have been injured by someone else.”
Earlier this month, an interfaith couple who visited a court in Bhopal to register their marriage was targeted by members of right-wing outfits, who assaulted the man and accused him of “love jihad”. The police later arrested the man on charges of forcing the woman to change her religion.
Anand Mohan J is an award-winning Senior Correspondent for The Indian Express, currently leading the bureau’s coverage of Madhya Pradesh. With a career spanning over eight years, he has established himself as a trusted voice at the intersection of law, internal security, and public policy.
Based in Bhopal, Anand is widely recognized for his authoritative reporting on Maoist insurgency in Central India. In late 2025, he provided exclusive, ground-level coverage of the historic surrender of the final Maoist cadres in Madhya Pradesh, detailing the backchannel negotiations and the "vacuum of command" that led to the state being declared Maoist-free.
Expertise and Reporting Beats
Anand’s investigative work is characterized by a "Journalism of Courage" approach, holding institutions accountable through deep-dive analysis of several key sectors:
National Security & Counter-Insurgency: He is a primary chronicler of the decline of Naxalism in the Central Indian corridor, documenting the tactical shifts of security forces and the rehabilitation of surrendered cadres.
Judiciary & Legal Accountability: Drawing on over four years of experience covering Delhi’s trial courts and the Madhya Pradesh High Court, Anand deconstructs complex legal rulings. He has exposed critical institutional lapses, including custodial safety violations and the misuse of the National Security Act (NSA).
Wildlife Conservation (Project Cheetah): Anand is a leading reporter on Project Cheetah at Kuno National Park. He has provided extensive coverage of the biological and administrative hurdles of rewilding Namibian and South African cheetahs, as well as high-profile cases of wildlife trafficking.
Public Health & Social Safety: His recent investigative work has uncovered systemic negligence in public services, such as contaminated blood transfusions causing HIV infections in thalassemia patients and the human cost of the fertilizer crisis affecting rural farmers.
Professional Background
Tenure: Joined The Indian Express in 2017.
Locations: Transitioned from the high-pressure Delhi City beat (covering courts, police, and labor issues) to his current role as a regional lead in Madhya Pradesh.
Notable Investigations: * Exposed the "digital arrest" scams targeting entrepreneurs.
Investigated the Bandhavgarh elephant deaths and the impact of kodo millet fungus on local wildlife.
Documented the transition of power and welfare schemes (like Ladli Behna) in Madhya Pradesh governance.
Digital & Professional Presence
Author Profile: Anand Mohan J at Indian Express
Twitter handle: @mohanreports ... Read More
