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The Delhi High Court has come to the rescue of a 23-year-old Lesbian woman who was forced to marry a man against her wishes, as reported in the media. Advocate Vrinda Grover appeared for her, whereas Standing Counsel Rahul Mehra represented Delhi Police.
Bar & Bench reported that Justice Mukta Gupta of the Delhi High Court issued a notice on the woman’s petition seeking protection of her right to equality under Article 14 and right to privacy, autonomy, dignity and liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. A cease-and-desist order was also reportedly sought with respect to her forceful return and the family’s attempts at carrying out “corrective procedures” for “curing” the petitioner woman’s sexual orientation.
LiveLaw quoted Justice Gupta saying, “An adult woman cannot be forced to stay with her marital or parental family against her wishes.” During the hearing yesterday on March 10, The Leaflet reported that the court interacted with the woman and her husband and directed that steps be taken at the earliest for the dissolution of the marriage.
The petitioner allegedly escaped from her marital home on March 7, 2021, and sought the assistance of an NGO named Act Now for Harmony and Democracy (ANHAD) in New Delhi. As per a LiveLaw report, she was provided temporary shelter at a safe house run by another NGO, but her family members approached her at the NGO and asked her to return home.
She contended that her family members were forcing her to come back to undergo certain correction surgeries, rituals and ceremonies in relation to her sexual orientation. She also stated that she informed her husband immediately after the marriage that she identified as a homosexual woman.
The Leaflet reported that her plea before the court read, “The marriage was never consummated. The petitioner told her husband that she would like to file for divorce, as the continuance of their marriage was adversely affecting her mental health and physical well-being and since she had a different sexual orientation, there was no scope for either of them to experience fulfilment within the marriage. However, on some pretext or the other, the petitioner’s husband delayed breaking this news to his family and the petitioner continued to live in the misery of a life she did not identify with.”
The High Court directed that no NGO members should be harassed or harmed for helping the woman and held that the woman is at liberty to shift to a different location if she desired to. The media has also reported that the Delhi Police has been directed to take all necessary steps to provide protection to the woman at her new location.
The matter will be heard next on March 25.
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