Hadiya's father says Rahul Easwar betrayed the family

Vaikom: The father of a girl at the center of a religious conversion controversy has complained against a visitor who published a picture and video of the girl without the family's permission.

Rahul Easwar visited Hadiya and her parents on August 17, a day after the Kerala High Court ordered the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to probe the circumstances surrounding the conversion of the girl and her marriage to a Shafeen Jahan in December 2016.

The court had earlier declared the marriage null and void and placed the 24-year-old girl in her parents' custody.

Hadiya's father, K M Ashokan, now alleges that Easwar had visited his family three times and published the visuals he had shot on social media without the family's permission. In a complaint filed with the police, Ashokan said that Easwar has received large sums of money from terrorist organizations to subvert the investigation in the case.

He said that he let Easwar inside his house as the young man belonged to a family of tantris attached to the Sabarimala shrine. Easwar spoke with Hadiya in the presence of the parents on two of his visits but chose to speak with her alone on the third visit last week, Ashokan said.

Easwar even shot pictures of Hadiya. When Ashokan protested, the visitor assured him that it was for his personal use. Later, the picture and the video were posted on social media. This amounts to breach of trust, Ashokan said.

Hadiya (originally Akhila) has been confined to her parents' house at TV Puram near Vaikom since May. The police have stepped up protection to the family after the case has been handed over to the NIA.

Easwar found his way into the house past an armed police party on the premises and a woman constable inside the house. He posted a selfie with Hadiya and Ashokan and a video in which the young woman is seen arguing with her mother Ponnamma.

Easwar said that the probe should also cover whether there is any prompting behind Ashokan's complaint. Vaikom sub inspector M Sahil said the police were doing a preliminary round of investigation.