Madhya Pradesh Police temporarily halted their physical search operations in Kochi. The team returned home after failing to locate viral ‘Kumbh Mela star’ Monalisa Bhosle and her husband, Farman Khan. A severe interstate legal standoff over child protection enforcement is driving the sudden withdrawal.
Officers searched multiple locations in Kerala prior to departing. They tracked the phone location of a friend present at the couple’s March 11, 2026 wedding near the NGO Quarters in Thrikkakara. The couple relocated before authorities arrived.
The Kerala High Court intervened by issuing an interim order preventing the arrest of Farman Khan until May 20, while the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes discovered her December 2009 birth date and summoned the Kerala and Madhya Pradesh DGPs to Delhi. Kerala Police officially relayed the court directive to the MP Police. They extended routine inter-state cooperation but refused to facilitate a physical arrest.
Monalisa Bhosle gained viral attention during the 2025 Kumbh Mela from a video showing her selling rudraksha beads. The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes launched an investigation into her subsequent marriage. They concluded she was 16 years and two months old at the time of the wedding. Madhya Pradesh hospital records verified her birth date as December 30, 2009. A forged birth certificate was used to facilitate the ceremony.
Following a formal complaint from her family, authorities registered severe kidnapping charges against the husband and dispatched the Madhya Pradesh police team to Kochi to investigate the controversial interfaith marriage.
Why the NCST Summoning the Kerala and MP DGPs Signals a Jurisdictional Crisis
The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes took stringent action by summoning Kerala’s Director General of Police, Ravada A. Chandrasekhar, and Madhya Pradesh’s DGP, Kailash Makwana, to Delhi. The mandate targets severe enforcement gaps in child protection laws across state lines.
This case exposes a complex jurisdictional clash. A state High Court’s anticipatory protection order in Kerala is actively blocking another state’s criminal enforcement of the POCSO Act. The ongoing legal battle highlights severe gaps in law enforcement cooperation between state jurisdictions.