Srinagar: Hadiya, the 24-year-old woman who made headlines after she reverted to Islam, on Tuesday filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court stating that she is a Muslim and wanted to remain as a Muslim. She also stated that she wanted to remain as the wife of Shafin Jahan, the Muslim man who married her.

In a recent verdict on the Kerala ‘love jihad’ case in January this year, the Supreme Court declared that an adult woman has the right to live freely and choose a life of her choice, a media report said.

The Supreme Court said the NIA could continue with its probe into the case but it cannot investigate the marital status of the man and the woman, the report said.

The top court also said that the woman had appeared before it and had specifically said she had married Shafin Jahan on her own, the report added.

Akhila had married a Muslim man called Shafin, embraced Islam and changed her name to Hadiya.

Hadiya, a BHMS student, returned to Sivaraj Homeopathy College in Salem in November last year after the Supreme Court allowed her to complete her studies.

Registered with her original name Akhila Ashokan, Hadiya was forced to discontinue her studies at the institute after a major row erupted over her conversion to Islam and marriage to Shafin.

Hadiya, who was born to a Hindu couple in Kerala, reverted to Islam and married Jahan but her marriage was annulled by Kerala High Court in May last year.

The high court, while declaring the marriage as “null and void”, had described the case as an instance of ‘love jihad’ and ordered the state police to conduct probe into such cases.