The Kerala High Court on Tuesday (July 21) passed a fresh order granting police protection to viral Kumbh Mela star.

The order was passed in a plea moved by the star alleging that hate campaigns were propagated against her on mainstream media and online platforms following her marriage to her husband Mohammed Farmaan, a Muslim man.

Today, Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas was informed by the counsel for the star that she had approached the police with a representation to give her protection after the initial order granting protection was vacated.

For context, in June the Court had passed an interim order granting police protection to the girl. However, earlier this month, the Court had vacated its interim order after being told that the police was unable to trace her.

The government pleader submitted that the petitioner is no longer residing within the jurisdiction of the Station House Officer (SHO), who is impleaded in her plea. It was also submitted that the petitioner was given the contact of a female police Assistant Sub-Inspector and in case she required urgent police protection, necessary request can be made to the said officer.

Noting that the SHO within whose jurisdiction she is presently residing is not a party in the plea, the Court went on to suo motu implead the SHO as an additional respondent. It also directed the additionally impleaded SHO to give her adequate police protection.

"He can do it through your female officer," Justice Bechu orally added.

Background

In her plea, it is stated that photos of her and her husband were burned and beaten up with chappals in the streets in agitation. She has also stated that she had received threatening messages from unknown persons in her mobile phone.

The young woman, who came to be known as "viral Kumbh mela girl", had shot to nation-wide fame after videos of her selling rudraksha garlands at the Maha Kumbh mela celebrations became viral. Subsequently, she had come to Kerala for a film shooting and had married a co-star, Farmaan.

Several controversies arose, thereafter, with the girl's father filing a complaint before the Madhya Pradesh police accusing Farmaan of abducting her. There were also allegations that the girl was a minor at the time of the marriage. In the FIR registered before the MP police, offences including those under the POCSO Act and the SC/ST Act came to be incorporated.

Meanwhile, the couple had also approached the Madhya Pradesh High Court, alleging that the star's birth certificate was forged to criminalise their interfaith marriage.

The couple had them moved the Kerala High Court seeking transit anticipatory bail and the husband was granted 1-month transit bail to enable him to approach the courts in MP for bail. He had then moved for anticipatory bail in the jurisdictional POCSO Court, Madleshway (MP) but the same was rejected.

Again, the Kerala High Court was approached seeking extension of interim bail to permit him to approach the MP High Court. However, the Kerala High Court refused to grant relief to Farmaan.

Recently, the MP High Court gave interim relief to the couple after they pointed out that her birth certificate was manipulated to portray their interfaith marriage as a child marriage.

Case No: WP(C) No. 21065 of 2026

Case Title: MB v. State of Kerala and Anr.

Counsel for the petitioner: P.S. Anishad, Limna Bhaskaran, Sreeparvathi G.V., Samuel Sabu, K.K. Preetha, Siya Ummer