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Gangster Abu Salem Says 'Qubool Hai' To Mumbai Girl's Proposal

Gangster Abu Salem Says 'Qubool Hai' To Mumbai Girl's Proposal
Police personnel surround Abu Salem, center, as he is taken to a forensic science laboratory in Bangalore, India, Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2005. Salem, one of Indias most wanted men, suspected of terrorizing Bollywood and plotting bombings that killed hundreds, was brought to the southern Indian city for brain mapping, polygraph and narco-analysis tests, according to news agency reports. (AP Photo)
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Police personnel surround Abu Salem, center, as he is taken to a forensic science laboratory in Bangalore, India, Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2005. Salem, one of Indias most wanted men, suspected of terrorizing Bollywood and plotting bombings that killed hundreds, was brought to the southern Indian city for brain mapping, polygraph and narco-analysis tests, according to news agency reports. (AP Photo)

Abu Salem, who is facing trial in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, has been in prison since his extradition to India from Portugal. Earlier this year, he was convicted by a special Tada court and sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of builder Pradip Jain in 1995. He is been married twice. But for the 47-year-old underworld don, life is very similar to a Bollywood script.

A week after a 25-year-old woman from Mumbai proposed to marry the gangster, Salem has finally accepted it. In a reply, filed on Monday, Salem said, "I humbly request to kindly consider (her application) and grant us permission to register and perform marriage under Special Marriage Act before the registrar."

Why is Salem marrying her?

In his reply, Salem has said that he wanted to marry her so that she could "meet and answer all the relatives, friends and well-wishers with her head up in the society".

He also said that he will marry her so that she is not 'defamed' further.

"I also undertake to (take) care of her in all the respects once she gets married to me and...she will not be further defamed as officially she will be my wife," the gangster's application said.

Last week, the woman had moved the TADA court, where Salem’s case is being heard, seeking permission to marry the gangster. In her six-page application, Sayyed Bahaar Kausar said that a newspaper report of her having married Salem on board a Lucknow-bound train in 2014 had ‘ruined her life’.

The report said that Salem had married her 'over the phone'.

The girl also threatened to kill herself if her application before the TADA court for permission to tie the nuptials with the jailed gangster is not considered favourably by the court authorities.

Will Salem be third time lucky?

If this wedding happens, Salem will be married for the third time.

In the early 90s, Abu Salem was married to Sumaira Jumani, with whom he has a son. Jumani and Salem separated after actor Monica Bedi entered his life. Abu Salem and Monica Bedi fled the country but Bedi has always denied being married to him.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.