Amiya K Kushwaha - High Court pulls up Delhi Police for separating Hindu-Muslim couple
The Delhi High Court
has slammed Delhi Police for forcibly separating an inter-faith couple despite
knowing well that the Muslim woman is above 21 years and had married the Hindu
man of her own free will. A bench of Justice S
Muralidhar and Justice Vinod Goel has sought an explanation from Delhi Police
over allegations that they kept the husband in the police lock-up from July 3
to 5 without presenting him in any court. The court order came
while hearing a habeas corpus filed by the man who was seeking the wife's
whereabouts.
The couple got married
in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, on June 28, 2018 and then started residing at the
man's residence at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus in New Delhi. On July 3, at around 8
pm, policemen accompanied by JNU security personnel and others in civilian
clothes forcibly took away the woman and handed over the man to police, who was
taken to Loni police station and kept in the lock-up for three days.
The man alleged
that he was abused and beaten in custody and threatened he would be implicated
in a false case of rape if he tried to reunite with his wife. The police action
came after a complaint was lodged at Loni police station by the woman’s brother
that his sister was missing
The court has asked
the police to explain how it proceeded to act on the complaint received from
the woman's brother despite knowing that she was an adult and entitled to take
her own decisions. The bench met the
young woman in the judge’s chamber. She told the judges that she had married
the man of her own choice and the marriage was registered at Ghaziabad. To ensure that there
was no untoward or unpleasant incident hereafter, the court has directed the
police to provide security to the couple as well as their family and listed the
matter for further hearing on August 7.
The bench spoke to the
young woman's mother and explained to her that although she may have
reservations about her daughter's marriage to someone from a different
religion, the latter is entitled to make her choices as she was an adult. The girl's mother told
the court that it would be up to her daughter to decide what she wanted to do
with her life.
As the young woman
wished to return to her husband, the bench gave her the permission to reunite
with her husband, who was also present in the courtroom.
https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/india/delhi-high-court-pulls-up-delhi-police-for-separating-hindu-muslim-couple