Student, 17, defends ‘love’ for teacher after their elopement sparks religious tensions in India

Pupil’s family files police complaint against female teacher, accusing her of kidnapping their daughter

File: People from different human rights organizations hold placards during a protest against the BJP over a so-called 'love jihad ' law, in Bengaluru, India (EPA)

A 20-year-old teacher and her 17-year-old female student eloped from a town in India last month, leading to a country-wide police hunt as well as tensions between religious groups in their town.

The pair’s disappearance has been leapt upon by right-wing Hindu nationalist groups, as the teenager is a Hindu and her teacher is a Muslim.

The family of the student have lodged a police complaint against the woman, a teacher at a private school in Sri Dungargarh, Bikaner, accusing her of kidnapping their daughter.

But in a video posted online that has since been widely shared, the class 12 student proclaimed her “love” for the teacher as the pair came out to their families.

“All of you must be thinking that she or her family members brainwashed and kidnapped me. There is nothing like that,” she said in the four-minute long video. “We have left on our own will because we love each other and can’t stay without each other.

“We are lesbians and we cannot marry any other man. That is why we decided to run away; she didn’t force me at all. You may think that she has asked me to make this video, but it is not so. It is me who has taken the decision to make this video and allay the misunderstanding,” said the minor.

The teacher said in her own appeal to the public: “I did not entice her into this situation. We came here of our own free will. Please refrain from inciting unnecessary riots. If I have done nothing wrong, then why are you mistreating my family? We are safe and cautious. We will continue to be happy in the future, so please allow us to be.”

Right-wing Hindu groups are calling the couple’s disappearance a case of “love jihad” – an Islamophobic conspiracy theory perpetuated without evidence that claims Muslim fundamentalists convert Hindu and Christian women to Islam through trickery, expressions of false love and even forced marriage.

Members of some of these groups gathered at the local police station in Sri Dungargarh demanding action against the teacher’s family, reported The Indian Express.

The family of the minor also believes that she has been influenced by her teacher. “Our daughter is a minor and has been brainwashed,” the girl’s uncle told Outlook. “Of course we have seen the video but we don’t believe it. At this point in time we want her back as soon as possible.”

The teacher’s father, who also registered a missing persons complaint, expressed his exasperation over the complaint filed against his family, as he claimed that his daughter was engaged to be married to another man.

“We are equally worried about both. Our family only filed a missing report. But the minor (student’s) family has lodged an FIR against my sons and my daughter who herself is missing,” he told the outlet.

A First Information Report (FIR) is an initial chargesheet, the first step in any police investigation in India.

The Bikaner city police, which has launched an extensive search to locate the couple, said they have tracked them about 2,300km from the Rajasthan town to Chennai city in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

“The two women have been tracked in Chennai and we are in the process of bringing them back. Teams of Rajasthan Police are presently in Chennai and we are also coordinating with the Chennai police,” a police official was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.

“The police tracked and got to them today morning. Prima facie it seems that they had gone to Chennai on a train.”

Their disappearance sparked a political outcry, with prime minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party criticising the opposition Congress party, which is in government in Rajasthan state.

“You want to end the matter on the basis of that video of our sister, daughter, who is under pressure,” said BJP legislator Rajendra Rathore.

“What is this system, that is abducting our innocent daughters, filling poison in their minds, doing conversion and also hitting our culture? We will ask the government in the Assembly too ... the girl is kidnapped but government officials are only asking for time.”