The Supreme Court Friday sought the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) view on a lawsuit by a Srinagar-based Muslim woman seeking an independent probe into the death of her Jammu-based Hindu husband. The man died in police custody.

A bench of Justices Altmas Kabir and Cyriac Joseph issued notice to the CBI to seek its stand after the Jammu and Kashmir government, responding to the court's Nov 13 notice, said it had no objection to a probe by the bureau.

The bench had on Nov 13 also asked the Delhi Police to provide protection to the woman, who had married after changing her religion.

The bench issued notice to the CBI on a lawsuit by Anchal Sharma alias Amina Yousuf, whose husband Rajneesh Sharma was allegedly tortured to death in October this year by the police at the behest of her father, a police inspector posted in Srinagar.

The lawsuit was jointly filed by Anchal and her in-laws, including the late Rajneesh's mother and his brothers, who have fled Jammu apprehending danger to their lives and are hiding in the capital.

It stated that Amina married Rajneesh against the wishes of her father and brother on July 21 this year in Jammu after adopting Hinduism. She left the city on a honeymoon tour to various places in northern and southern parts of the country.

But the Srinagar police, on a complaint by Amina's father, raided Rajneesh's shop in Jammu and apprehended his brother Kaushal, who was made an accused in a criminal case of kidnapping the woman.

Harassing Kaushal and his family members, the Srinagar police forced Rajneesh to surrender before it in early October this year. But he was never released from police custody and was eventually killed by the policemen, the petition alleged.

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