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A 19-year-old Hindu girl, who had been sent to a shelter home in Mumbai by the police over an issue of living with a Muslim person, told the Bombay High Court that she did not want to live with her parents and stay with her partner. She also said that even though her partner was legally not in a position to marry her as he was only 20 years old, she would stay with him. However, the court asked the teen to wait for the petitioner to settle down before making a decision.
On Monday, a bench of Justices Bharti Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande were hearing a petition filed by the man who is a Muslim, seeking the teen’s release from the shelter home. The plea had been filed by advocates Lokesh Zade and Abid Abbas Sayyed and the court had directed the police to produce the girl from the shelter home.
The bench decided to interact with the girl who said that she was a little over 19 years of age and had done a beautician course. She said she had not yet married the petitioner but would do so once he turned 21, the legal age for men to marry.
The court asked if she and the petitioner knew how they were going to sustain themselves after marriage. The girl did not give a satisfactory answer but said such issues would be sorted as the man used to work at a call centre and would find another job soon.
The petitioner, who was present in court, said he had started a business of undergarment clothing and hoped to make some earnings.
The girl, in response, stressed that she did not want to go back to her parents and wanted to stay with the petitioner and that they would marry later. The bench said all their plans seemed to be in the future and told the girl, “Let him settle down first and then decide to marry him.”
At this, the girl said, “I have made a decision.” She clarified that she did not have a problem living with the petitioner until he attained a marriageable age.
The petitioner opposed the girl being sent to her parent’s house and alleged that there was a threat to her life.
However, the bench permitted the girl’s father to meet her on the court premises and told her, “There is no threat from your parents. Your father is only worried about you.”
After the meeting, the bench decided to hear the plea again on Wednesday (December 11).
“Both the petitioner and the girl are adults and fully capable of making decisions about their lives,” stated the plea, adding that the teen had left her parent’s home and had come to reside with the petitioner out of her own free will.
However, in their plea, the girl’s parents registered a complaint with the police which was “heavily influenced by the involvement of certain members of religious, political social workers, Bajrang Dal workers, who interfered in the matter, and sought to pressure her into severing her relationship with the petitioner and returning to her parent’s home”.
After the registration of the complaint, the girl was called to the police station, where her family and members of the religious, political social workers and Bajrang Dal workers were present. The plea claimed that police officials attempted to intimidate and coerce the teen into abandoning the relationship with the petitioner.
Despite the pressure, the girl expressed her desire to marry the petitioner and refused to return to her parents. Subsequently, the police placed her in Shaskriya Stree Bhishekari Khikar Kendra, a government-run women’s hostel in Chembur, Mumbai, against her will, the plea said.
The girl and the petitioner have expressed concerns over possible physical harm, so they have approached the police to ensure their safety against any threats or interference from individuals and the marriage be solemnised.
