The Allahabad High Court has ordered the Uttar Pradesh government and the father of two women, who voluntarily converted to Islam, to pay them Rs 25 lakh in compensation for unlawfully confining them. In a judgement delivered on August 6, Justice Sandeep Jain also ordered that the sisters be released. The sisters alleged that their father had confined them inside their paternal home after they converted. “Such a choice is an essential facet of individual autonomy, dignity and personal liberty protected not only under Article 25 but also under Article 21 of the Constitution [right to life and personal liberty],” it observed. The court ordered the father not to interfere with the women’s personal liberty and religious choices.