A Muslim woman Sajuna Akter Nishu (26), daughter of Mohammed Idris from Hathazari upazila in Chattogram district of south-eastern Bangladesh married a Hindu youth (21) whom she loves. The couple tied the knot in a local Shiva temple following Hindu customs & the girl accepted Hindu Dharma. She has adopted a new name Rudrani Debi. The couple then started living in a rented house, Bengali language news portal of Bangladesh The Daily Campus has reported.

Not being able to find Nishu, her mother Rozi Akter lodged a complaint at the Hatazari police station. A Muslim girl marrying a Hindu boy created a sensation in the area. The issue went viral on social media too. Since then the couple went into hiding, and are reportedly receiving death threats.

Rudrani aka Nishu had divorced her first husband two years back and has a 4-year-old daughter from that marriage. After returning to her parent’s house, she had enrolled in a technical college. Her father works in Oman.

The priest of the temple where the couple got married said that he wasn’t aware the girl was previously a Muslim. Officer-in-charge of local Hathazari police station, Ruhul Amin Sobuj said, “The incident is being investigated. Attempts are being made to rescue them.”

Islam is the state religion of Bangladesh although the Constitution also upholds the principle of secularism. On the ground, Islamic fundamentalists wield a lot of clout and pogroms against minorities, especially Hindus, are routine. The country has spawned many terror groups and continues to be a hotbed of jihad that often spills over into Bharat.

PM Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League party likes to call itself ‘secular’, however many of its cadre and leaders are Islamist as the Opposition BNP-JeI combine. Even though inter-faith marriages are allowed and there is no law prohibiting religious conversion of Muslims in Bangladesh, there is fierce social resistance to the idea of Muslim apostasy (rejection of Islam) and persecution of such apostates is commonplace. Many atheist bloggers have had to flee Bangladesh after a spate of brutal murders by Islamic terrorists a few years back.