No lawyer in tricity is willing to help her.

I have a distant relative (33F) who moved to Chandigarh for work 6-7 years ago. There, she fell in love with a Muslim colleague but kept it secret for 3-4 years. When she neared 30 and her parents started looking for a match, she revealed the relationship.

She is their only child—their whole world—but given the prevalent Islamophobia in their generation, they were devastated and refused to accept it. However, she had never been denied anything in her life and refused to back down, even threatening never to marry. Her parents sought support from relatives, but everyone was against it.

She is adopted, and she used that to guilt them, saying, "Because I'm adopted, you don’t care about my happiness, only society." Her family is from a small Haryana town where they likely never even encountered a Muslim person, making their resistance stronger. When her parents tried convincing relatives, they were told: "Let her do what she wants, but don’t expect any support or relationship with us if she marries him."

Her father then developed Parkinson’s and bipolar disorder, and with his worsening condition, his dying wish is to see her married. So, her parents finally decided to go against society for her happiness and asked me to help find a lawyer for a court marriage.

Personally I was also against this so I was hesitant—everyone warned me not to get involved, and I don’t know the guy, so I worry about Love Jihad. But seeing her parents' helplessness, I decided to help.

Here’s what I found:

I contacted 10+ lawyers. Most refused, and those who agreed demanded fees in lakhs.

I reached out to mosques and learned that Love Jihad laws make this extremely complicated. Many maulvis have been arrested for performing such marriages, and others are too afraid to get involved.

Now, I’m conflicted. I might still find a lawyer, but after hearing from legal and religious sources, I’m unsure if I should continue helping.

What should I do?