Love and the law: Hindu-Muslim couple challenges India’s marriage rule

In September, as India relaxed its lockdown restrictions, Nida Rehman made the difficult decision to leave her parents’ home. COVID-19 cases were still on the rise. But living with her family, she had come to conclude, posed a bigger risk to the life she wanted to lead. 

For nine years, Ms. Rehman, a Muslim woman, had built a relationship with Mohan Lal, a Hindu man whom she met at university. But her family’s position was clear: She could not marry outside her faith, and they would find her a Muslim match themselves.

Ms. Rehman was adamant. If you want to marry a good person, she believed, faith shouldn’t stand in the way. “Religion does not create boundaries like these,” she says.

So she moved out, with the help of a