For six young couples, who married outside their caste or faith and fled to Delhi for a safe haven, life has taken a turn for the worse in the national capital.
The couples had to endure exploitation at the hands of an illegal NGO called ‘Love Commando’. The NGO resorted to blackmail and extortion, threatening to expose their whereabouts to their vengeful families. They had lived in mortal fear for many days until one of them gathered enough courage to inform the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW). They were rescued from the clutches of the NGO in a joint raid conducted by the DCW and the Delhi Police on January 29. But the couples are still far from safe.
The DCW, with its limited resources, cannot protect them for long. In fact, the Commission has accommodated the men and women separately due to lack of manpower, facilities and security. The men are scattered around, living in gurudwaras or some such temporary accommodation, while their wives are lodged in hostels.
The DCW, through advocate Sunil Fernandes, has drawn the attention of the Supreme Court to the plight of the young couples. The Commission said these young lives have suffered because neither the Centre nor the States have bothered to implement a Supreme Court direction to protect inter-faith/community couples from honour killing and provide them accommodation in safe houses. It has been nearly a year since the judgment in March 2018.
The Commission argued that the lapse on the part of the State is a violation of the fundamental rights of persons to choose a life partner and live with dignity.
A Bench led by Justice A.K. Sikri has taken serious exception to the non-compliance by the State. It has sought a reply from the Union, Delhi Police Commissioner and the Delhi government in two weeks.
The Commission has asked the apex court to put the government on a deadline to implement the March 2018 judgment in the Shakti Vahini case.
The judgment had in March last year condemned honour killing as an act which “guillotines individual liberty, freedom of choice and one’s own perception of choice.”
The Supreme Court had issued a series of guidelines putting the onus on the State to protect young lives from honour killing. The judgment requires every district to have a safe house for runaway couples to stay during the first year of marriage.
“Most couples flee and come to metros like Delhi. So it is necessary that there should be State-sponsored safe houses in the metros,” Mr. Fernandes explained.