Monalisa Bhosle, a young tribal girl from Madhya Pradesh’s Khargone district, rose to fame during the 2025 Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, where she went viral on social media while selling fancy ornaments.
On 11 March 2026, Monalisa and her boyfriend Farman Khan approached the Thampanoor police station in Thiruvananthapuram, claiming that Monalisa’s father was trying to forcibly take her back to Madhya Pradesh against her will. The couple also claimed both were adults. The two subsequently got married at a temple in Arumanoor, on the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram (also reported as Poovar temple).
Three prominent CPI(M) leaders attended the wedding and publicly celebrated it as a symbol of social harmony and communal amity:
- V. Sivankutty – Kerala Cabinet Minister (Education)
- M.V. Govindan – CPI(M) State Secretary
- A.A. Rahim – CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP
CPI(M) leaders framed the inter-faith marriage as the “Real Kerala Story” as a counter to the Bollywood film The Kerala Story.
CPM Leaders @sivankutty_v (left), MV Govindan, and MP @AARahimdyfi (right) are being investigated under stringent POCSO charges for conducting child marriage of Kumbhmela girl with her Muslim boy friend.
They played dirty politics to win Muslim votes, now backfiring big time !! pic.twitter.com/GgvwWUMs1V
— നചികേതസ് / Nachiketas (@nach1keta) April 12, 2026
The state police even defended the wedding and that the girl was a major by stating that she had an Aadhar card that proved so.
Monalisa’s father had filed a complaint alleging kidnapping, and a case under BNS Section 137(2) (kidnapping) was already registered based on his complaint. His claims that his daughter was a minor were dismissed at the time, as the couple produced an Aadhaar card showing her date of birth as 1 January 2008 – which would make her 18 at the time of marriage.
According to Communists, this is the “Real Kerala Story.”🚨🚨
A father cried in front of Kerala’s legal system, pleading that his daughter was still a minor and had not reached the legal marriage age.
Instead of protecting the child, his plea was ignored, and two cabinet… pic.twitter.com/oNYcktj3tJ
— MAHARATHI (@MahaRathii) April 11, 2026
Farman Khan, at a press conference, specifically cited K-SMART to assert that the marriage was legally registered: “She is an adult and the marriage was legally registered through the Kerala government’s K-SMART app”. The marriage certificate was generated within 30 minutes of document submission.
Kerala LSGD officials defended the system, stating that “under-age marriage cannot be registered under this system” as all age and residence proofs are verified before issuance.
For the first time in Indian history, a state endorsed child marriage.
The Government of Kerala made all its efforts to issue marriage certificate with a minor girl, using forged documents furnished by Farman Khan.
This is state sponsored Love Jehad. pic.twitter.com/g6mpvXY8f9
— ആര്യൻ 🅰️🅰️®️♉🅰️🈂️ (@aaryan1972) April 11, 2026
Social activist Adv. Pritham Dubey from Uttar Pradesh brought the matter before the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST). The NCST conducted an investigation and obtained hospital birth records from Government Medical Hospital, Maheshwar, which showed Monalisa’s actual date of birth as 30 December 2009. This made her 16 years, 2 months, and 12 days old at the time of her marriage – well below the legal marriage age of 18.
The Aadhaar card used to register the marriage was alleged to be a forged document issued in the name of Maheshwar Municipality with a fabricated date of birth.
Following the NCST findings, Madhya Pradesh Police registered a POCSO case against Farman Khan at Maheshwar Police Station, Khargone district. The NCST recommended adding multiple serious sections to the case, including:
- Sections 87, 83, 96, 64, 81, 56 of BNS covering rape, procuration of a child, kidnapping, fraudulent marriage ceremonies, and cohabitation by deceit
- Sections 17 & 18 of POCSO Act abetment and attempt to commit sexual offences against children
- Provisions under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989
- The MP Freedom of Religion Act, 2021
- The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006
The NCST also directed the DGPs of both Kerala and Madhya Pradesh to appear before it.
BJP Kerala state secretary S. Suresh demanded that Sivankutty, Govindan, and Rahim be charged under the SC/ST Act and Criminal Conspiracy. The three leaders facilitated the marriage of a minor for political optics ahead of the Kerala Assembly Elections 2026.
CPI(M) leaders denied organising the wedding, with Rahim stating they had arrived at the venue only after seeing media reports portraying it as a case of family obstruction to an inter-faith couple. Govindan maintained that “as per records produced by the girl’s father himself, the girl was not a minor”. Kerala Police also continued to defend the Aadhaar card as genuine.
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