Interfaith Marriage Fraud, Forced Conversion, Marital Rape, and Domestic Violence — Legal Remedies for Women

Priya Sharma came to our office in early March 2024, visibly distressed and uncertain whether the law could even help her. She had entered into what she believed was a genuine interfaith marriage in Lucknow approximately fourteen months earlier. Her husband, Arjun Mathur, had promised repeatedly that there would be no conversion, that they would register under the Special Marriage Act, 1954, and that her identity would remain her own. But before the ceremony, he persuaded her to change her name and religion through an Arya Samaj ceremony, promising to reverse it later and register under the SMA. That registration never happened.

Things got worse. Fast. During a period when she had briefly returned to her parents' home in Kanpur after a fight, Arjun called her repeatedly, feigning an accident and emotional collapse. She returned to care for him. When she refused physical intimacy — clearly and explicitly — he forced himself on her, stating she was his wife and he had rights. His mother physically assaulted her, pulling her hair, throwing her against the wall, leaving her with severe headaches for over a week. A domestic violence complaint was filed, but Arjun's family was now rushing through a mutual divorce process, placing blame squarely on Priya and seeking to escape DV liability entirely.

Priya had earlier consulted a general-practice advocate who focused mainly on mutual divorce terms and wasn't equipped to handle the intersecting criminal dimensions. By the time she reached Advocate Sudhir Rao, the mutual divorce draft already contained admissions that would have permanently harmed her legal standing. The approach was completely restructured. The DV complaint was reinforced with medical evidence and digital records. Criminal complaints were filed under Sections 115(2), 351(2), 352, and 79 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Priya's original name and identity were restored through affidavit and court record correction proceedings. The matter is now proceeding on contested terms that give Priya real protection rather than a forced settlement.

You can read about this case in detail at https://sudhirrao.com/interfaith-marriage-fraud-forced-conversion-marital-rape-dom/