In a major setback for the Kumbh Mela viral minor girl and her Islamist partner, Mohammed Farman, the Kerala High Court has withdrawn the police protection earlier granted to the duo. The court’s intervention came after the police informed it that they were unable to trace the couple.
What started as an internet fairytale for the Kumbh Mela minor viral girl, who became famous for selling garlands of Rudraksha at the Maha Kumbh Mela, has turned into a complicated legal situation.
The Kerala High Court has officially ended the temporary police protection granted to Monalisa and Farman. This decision, made by Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas, came after the government lawyer told the court the police could not trace or contact the couple at all. The police were ready to provide the protection ordered, but they could not find the couple at the given addresses, and their phone numbers were switched off.
The government also told the court that it has become a “regular pattern” of the girl to request protection and then become untraceable. Accepting this argument, the High Court lifted the protection order, stating that the police only need to provide security if the girl requests it again in writing.
The couple is currently on the run due to serious criminal charges. After their temple marriage in Kerala in March 2026, Monalisa’s father filed a kidnapping case against Farman. The situation worsened when the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) found that Monalisa belongs to the Pardhi tribal community and was allegedly a minor at the time of marriage. Hospital records indicate her date of birth is December 30, 2009, meaning she was just 16 years old when she married.
MP Authorities and the girl’s parents say that the documents are forged, including a fake birth certificate, which was used to register the marriage in Kerala as an adult union. As a result, the Madhya Pradesh police filed an FIR against Farman under the strict Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and also charged him under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The girl’s ‘husband’ Farman Khan’s legal options are quickly diminishing. He suffered a significant setback when a Special POCSO Court in Maheshwar, Madhya Pradesh, rejected his anticipatory bail application. After this rejection, Farman went to the Kerala High Court to extend a one-month transit anticipatory bail he had previously received.
However, the Kerala High Court dismissed his plea, saying it did not have the authority to handle the request. The court emphasised that transit bail is a temporary protection, and Farman must go to the proper legal forum in Madhya Pradesh for any further help or to surrender to the appropriate court.
With their police protection revoked and no anticipatory bail secured, the couple remains in hiding.
Just a month after 16-year-old, who went viral at the 2025 Mahakumbh Mela for selling Rudraksha malas, married Mohammad Farmaan Khan in Poovar, Thiruvananthapuram, the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) has declared the wedding illegal, stating that she was still a minor. Madhya Pradesh Police has registered a case against Farman for abducting the minor. A POCSO case will also be registered against Farman soon.
The case has taken a more serious turn due to the direct involvement of elected representatives, including a Rajya Sabha MP AA Rahim, Former Kerala Education Minister V Sivankutty and the ruling party Secretary MV Govindan. Many have accused them of deliberately flouting the law for political publicity, using the interfaith marriage to project a counter-narrative to “Love Jihad” and push the “Real Kerala Story” narrative.
It also has to be noted that out that the CPM’s prominent role in the event has been strategically timed to woo support from SDPI and other Islamist outfits in the run-up to the 2026 Kerala Assembly polls. Reports suggest Farman Khan himself has connections with SDPI and radical elements.
Legal experts say that the left-wing leaders who facilitated and participated in the marriage of the minor girl to an adult without verifying the authenticity of her age and birth certificate would be held equally responsible and charged alongside Farman Khan for conspiring to solemnise the illegal marriage.
