Viral Kumbh Mela woman, husband move M.P. High Court over ‘forged’ age record to portray her as minor 

Couple alleges harassment by Madhya Pradesh Police, demands restoration of birth certificate and independent investigation

Published – May 19, 2026 11:49 pm IST – Bhopal

Mehul Malpani

A woman from Madhya Pradesh, who went viral during the Kumbh Mela last year, and her actor husband, Farman Khan, have approached the Madhya Pradesh High Court alleging that her father and others forged documents to portray her as a minor after she married a man of another faith in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram. 

Seeking an urgent hearing, the couple also accused the Madhya Pradesh Police of intimidation and harassment during visits to Kerala as part of an investigation into a case filed against Mr. Khan, a native of Baghpat district in Uttar Pradesh.

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The woman, a resident of Khargone, went viral on social media while selling garlands and rudraksha beads at the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad in early 2025. She later went on to work as an actor. But a controversy erupted after she started dating and eventually married Mr. Khan in March, 2026, with her family alleging that she was only 16 years old and that Mr. Khan had “trapped her in love jihad”.

Based on a complaint filed by her father and a probe by the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST), an FIR was registered against Mr. Khan in Khargone’s Maheshwar under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, as the woman hails from the Pardhi tribal community. The NCST probe claimed that she was 17 years old, as per her birth records obtained from a government hospital in Maheshwar. 

Mr. Khan is currently on anticipatory bail from the Kerala High Court. 

In the joint petition, the couple claimed that the woman was born on January 1, 2008, as shown in a birth certificate issued by the Maheshwar Nagar Panchayat, and was, therefore, an adult at the time of her marriage. 

The petition alleged that the FIR against Mr. Khan was part of a “criminal conspiracy and communal incitement”, based on “forged government documents”.  

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“Her father, in collusion with his co-conspirators, set into motion a calculated and malicious design to portray the girl as a minor and to criminalise the lawful marriage between two consenting adults. In furtherance of the said conspiracy, the birth records were manipulated by wrongful substitution of entries, and the date of birth of the girl was falsely altered to January 1, 2009,” the plea said, while terming the FIR against Mr. Khan a “counterblast” to their marriage. 

The woman claimed that her “genuine birth certificate has been maliciously cancelled on the [M.P.] government portal without notice or authority”. The petitioners have sought restoration of the birth certificate and an independent investigation into the alleged conspiracy. 

The couple also said that following the FIR, the Madhya Pradesh Police officers have made repeated visits to Kerala for the probe.

“The conduct of the police officials has caused grave apprehension and fear to the petitioners and persons closely associated with them. The petitioners state that the investigating officials have been making repeated inquiries, visits and interventions in a manner which has resulted in intimidation and harassment not only to the petitioners but also to persons acquainted with them,” the plea said, claiming that the couple has had to frequently move within Kerala and that it has impacted their lives and work.  

Invoking the right to personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution, the couple also alleged the woman’s father and various other men circulated “false and inflammatory propaganda” through media and social media, branding Mr. Khan as a “terrorist”, and attempted to communalise a lawful marriage between two adults by using the malicious and provocative rhetoric of “love jihad”. 

Earlier, the woman had filed a case in Kerala’s Ernakulam against her father and others on similar allegations. 

Published – May 19, 2026 11:49 pm IST