The Kerala High Court on Friday vacated its interim order granting police protection to the woman popularly known as the viral "Kumbh Mela girl" after the police informed the court that they were unable to trace her using the address and contact number provided in her petition.

Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas passed the order after the government pleader submitted that repeated attempts to contact the petitioner had failed. "Now, it is a regular pattern from the petitioner. Every time she comes for police protection, the police are unable to contact her. The entire responsibility is on the police," the government pleader submitted.

While vacating the interim protection order, the court clarified that if the petitioner approaches the police in writing seeking protection, the authorities shall provide the necessary assistance. The case has been posted for further hearing on July 21.

The petition was filed after the woman alleged that she had been subjected to hate campaigns on mainstream media and social media following her marriage to a Muslim man. The woman shot to nationwide fame during last year's Maha Kumbh after videos of her selling rudraksha garlands at the festival went viral, earning her the moniker "viral Kumbh Mela girl."

In March 2026, while in Kerala for a film shoot, she approached the local police, claiming that her family opposed her relationship. She later married her partner in Kerala with the support of local political leaders.

Following the marriage, her father lodged a complaint in Madhya Pradesh alleging that her husband had abducted her. The couple then approached the Kerala High Court, which granted the husband one month's transit anticipatory bail to enable him to seek regular bail before the competent court in Madhya Pradesh.

The couple also moved the Madhya Pradesh High Court, alleging that the woman's birth certificate had been forged to criminalise their interfaith marriage.

However, last week, the Kerala High Court declined to extend the husband's transit anticipatory bail after the jurisdictional POCSO court at Mandleshwar in Madhya Pradesh rejected his anticipatory bail plea.
(With LiveLaw inputs)