The Delhi High Court on Friday came to the rescue of an interfaith couple by continuing the protection and stay at a government safe house, while pulling up the police for allegedly separating the two instead of providing them safe harbour. The court has also asked the police department to identify the personnel responsible for the same.

This is the story of a 26-year-old Muslim man in a relationship with a 25-year-old Hindu woman since 2018. The couple moved the High Court last month, seeking the judges’ urgent directions to the Delhi Police to provide the couple necessary protection and a safe house. The request was made after the couple expressed their intention to marry but were met with familiar opposition and threats.

According to the advocate representing the man, the couple was forcibly separated, with the woman medically examined and later detained at a women’s shelter on July 24, despite her repeated pleas to be with her partner.

While the police status report filed before the High Court on August 6 states, “there was no element of unlawful separation or procedural irregularities at any stage… (with all actions) taken purely from a welfare and constitutional standpoint… safety and autonomy,”

This submission by the police could not convince the court.

The Court Secures the Couple

The woman in the case interacted with Justice Sanjeev Narula on Friday virtually and said that she was taken away forcibly by the police and separated from her partner. She also told the court that the couple had initially sought protection, but the police said, “there is no such thing as a safe cell.”

“I was sent for a medical examination without telling me or without my consent. I was taken to a shelter home,” the woman told the court, adding that her personal belongings were also taken away, including her phone.

The High Court has now refused to allow the woman’s father to interfere, noting that he has no role in his daughter’s legal marriage as an adult.

The father’s counsel impressed before the court that “social reality has to be taken into consideration… In Indian society, parents have to be consulted.”

To this, the court firmly responded, “What law requires an adult to ask her father for marrying someone of a different faith?… You are insisting on something that I cannot appreciate… Constitutional rights guarantee she can marry of her choice, and I’m going to honour that… If the couple wants to get married, I’m going to protect them.”

Justice Narula went on to assure the woman, “If you are firm about your decision, we will support you. I am supporting your choice. I will support your decision… As far as the police are concerned, they will support you,” said the High Court.

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