The Delhi High Court has reunited an interfaith couple, who were forcibly separated by the Ghaziabad police despite knowing that the Muslim woman was above the age of 21 years and had married the Hindu man of her own free will.
A Bench of Justices S. Muralidhar and Vinod Goel sought an explanation from the Ghaziabad police over allegations that they kept the husband in police lockup for two nights without presenting him in front of any court.
The Bench also directed the Delhi police to explain the circumstances under which it permitted the couple to be taken away from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus here by a team from Loni police station, Ghaziabad, without intimating them.
“How was the police from Loni able to easily come to JNU and take away the petitioner and his wife? How was she, despite being over 21 years of age, simply handed over to her parents by the investigating officer knowing fully well that she had married him of her own free will?” the Bench said.
The High Court order came on a habeas corpus plea moved by the man seeking to produce his wife before the court as he has not been able to contact her.
The couple got married in Ghaziabad, UP, on June 28, and then started residing at the man's residence at JNU campus in Delhi.
The man alleged that on July 3, local policemen accompanied by JNU security personnel and others in civilian clothes forcibly took away his wife and he was taken to Loni police station and kept in a lockup for three days and two nights. He also alleged that he was abused and beaten.
In judge’s chamber
On the day of the hearing last week, the Bench met the woman in the judge’s chamber where she revealed that she had married the man of her own choice and the marriage was registered at Ghaziabad. She also expressed her desire to return to her husband.
The Bench then met the woman’s mother and explained to her that although she may have reservations about her daughter’s marriage to someone of a different religion, her daughter is entitled to make her own choices as she was an adult.
Following this, the mother said that it would be up to her daughter to decide what she wanted to do with her life. 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.