Indian court orders release of man in religious conversion case

The Allahabad High Court on Monday ordered the release of Ayush Malik from Shamli after determining his detention was illegal in a religious conversion case. Malik appeared before the court and testified that he had voluntarily converted to Islam and entered into marriage with Chandni Quraishi entirely of his own accord, without any external pressure. The court, accepting his statement, granted him the freedom to reside according to his preferences and the constitutional right to practice the religion of his choice. The judicial order reaffirmed the principle that religious conversion and matrimonial decisions are matters of individual choice and autonomy. Such cases have become increasingly common across several Indian states, where local authorities have detained individuals pending investigations into whether their conversions were undertaken willingly or through alleged coercion or inducement.