New Delhi: Remember Monalisa Bhosle, the girl who became an overnight sensation on internet during Mahakumbh last year?
A video of the fresh-faced girl, showing her selling rudraksh garlands at the Mahakumbh in Prayagraj, had gone viral and made her a topic of discussion not only on social media but mainstream media as well.
A month ago, Monalisa made headlines after she got married to a Muslim man named Farman Khan. Now, she is back in the news – but for the wrong reasons.
A POCSO case has been filed against her husband by The Khargone Police in Madhya Pradesh after an investigation confirmed that Monalisa is a minor. Farman has been booked under sections related to criminal conspiracy and unlawful marriage under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), as well as the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
An investigation by the National Commission for Scheduled Tribe (NCST) determined that Monalisa was born on December 30, 2009. Hence, sh
e was 16 years, 2 months and 12 days old at the time of her marriage on 11th March 11, 2026, at Kerala’s Nainar Deva temple.
The investigators ion began at the Nainar Deva Temple in Kerala, where the marriage was solemnised.
The temple administration told investigators that the marriage ceremony was conducted on the basis of ages mentioned in the couple’s Aadhaar cards. Monalisa and Farman’s marriage was subsequently registered at a gram panchayat office.
The probe team found out that Monalisa’s birth certificate used during registration was fraudulent.
Issued by Maheshwar Municipality, the certificate stated Monalisa’s date of birth as January 1, 2008, which is nearly two years earlier than what government hospital records show.
NCST has directed local authorities to cancel the birth certificate.
The Commission has also pointed to the alleged involvement of political personalities and organisations in the case.
NCST has summoned DGPs of Kerala and Madhya Pradesh to its New Delhi headquarters on April 22.
Advocate Pratham Dubey, who presented the matter before the Commission on March 17, claimed that CPI(M) leaders from Kerala and members of the Popular Front of India facilitated the marriage, India Today reported.
According to Dubey, the marriage was a deliberate attempt to set up a counter-narrative around the concept of ‘love jihad.’