They started out as neighbours who became friends. Eventually, they fell in love and wished to get married. Because they were from different faiths and knew it could pose challenges, they decided to seek refuge in the law.On February 7, 2025, this couple from Madhya Pradesh’s Narmadapuram district set out for the state capital to get married under the Special Marriage Act. But inside the Bhopal district court, the man, Saiyyad Khan, was assaulted by a group of lawyers. He was later arrested on charges of forcing his partner to convert to Islam and marry him.Though relieved, the 26-year-old has little to celebrate.Soon after his arrest, his fiancée married another man from the locality. Khan lost his job and, along with his family, has been living in his ancestral village.“The last time I saw her was in court, when she was defending me. Then, she got married… I was driven away from my home. Local villagers pelted my family with stones,” Khan says. “A lot of people stood against us.”Recalling their relationship, Khan says it started with friendship that blossomed into love. After a year of dating, he says, “she wanted to get married”. “It was her idea in the first place,” Khan tells The Indian Express over the phone.When the day arrived, the couple set out for Bhopal by bus, carrying the necessary documents. They entered the district court hoping only a few formalities remained.Story continues below this adBut inside the court, a swarm of lawyers cornered the couple and assaulted the man.What followed was a longer ordeal. The woman – according to Khan, she was coerced by her family – lodged a complaint against him. But with each subsequent hearing, she refused to stand by any of the allegations.Archana Raghuvanshi, the Second District and Additional Sessions Judge, Pipariya, District Narmadapuram, acquitted Khan on September 8 after the main witnesses, including the woman and her family members, did not support the prosecution case.How the case fell apartThe prosecution alleged that Khan pressured the woman into changing her name and religion, telling her she would become “Rehana Khan” after converting to Islam. Acting on his persuasion, she agreed to marry him and travelled with him to Bhopal, it was alleged.However, during trial, the woman did not support the prosecution case and was declared hostile. The court noted that she denied several key allegations against the accused.Story continues below this adShe denied that he had called her to meet him at the bus stand, that she had gone to Bhopal with him instead of appearing for her examination, or that he had persuaded her to convert. Instead, she told the court that “she had voluntarily left home” and that “she herself had asked the accused to marry her”.She also denied that the accused had told her she would be given the name “Rehana Khan” after nikah, or that he had “persuaded, induced or threatened” her to convert.The court noted that the complainant and her mother both denied having knowledge of the alleged statement that the accused would “convert your religion, make you adopt the Muslim religion and change your name to Rehana” – as stated by the prosecution. They also denied that the family had been called to Bhopal after she objected to the alleged conversion at the court.The woman’s mother told the court that “she went of her own free will”, while her brother denied that the accused had taken her to Bhopal by inducing her for the purpose of religious conversion. The court noted that the mother admitted that, by the time of the proceedings, “she had arranged her daughter’s marriage elsewhere.”Story continues below this adOn the basis of these testimonies, the court observed that the complainant and her mother, who were two important prosecution witnesses, “have not fully supported the prosecution story.”The complainant stated during cross-examination that police officers “obtained her signatures on several papers by putting pressure on her” and also recorded her statement before the magistrate’s court. She acknowledged that after the incident, she had no communication with the accused.Before the case, Khan worked as a machine operator at a factory. But soon after the incident, he lost his job. “The work stopped,” he says. For almost a year after, he did not work at all.Now, he is looking to rebuild his life. “I wish to finally move on from this. I am happy with the verdict even though there is a lot of sadness for what I have lost.”