New Delhi: The Madras high court’s Madurai bench has recently reunited a couple – a transman and a woman – who were forcibly separated by the woman’s family.
According to Bar and Bench, a Madurai bench of high court comprising Justices V. Bharathidasan and Nisha Banu noted that an adult woman expressing her wishes to live in a certain place can’t be stopped. The bench was hearing a habeas corpus plea filed by the woman’s partner.
“…considering the fact that the detenue is a major and she is willing to go with the petitioner, on her own volition, we set the detenue at liberty and permitted her to go along with the petitioner,” the bench said.
Fearing retribution from her family, the woman had reportedly written letters to the police before she left her parents’ house and moved to Chennai. She said in these letters that she was moving of her own volition.
In May this year, Bar and Bench reported, the woman’s parents went to Chennai and forced the woman to go back with them as they did not approve of the relationship. Her partner then approached the high court for relief. After speaking to the woman, the high court declared that the couple must be allowed to be together if that is what both consenting adults want.
In June this year, the Madras high court had passed an important in favour of LGBTQIA+ rights, listing guidelines to ensure the safety and dignity of the community. The judge had then called for sweeping reforms, among which were sending police and government officials to awareness training to ensure they respect LGBTQ rights. Medical practitioners who claim to be able to “cure” homosexuality should have their licenses revoked, he said.
The judge had spoken in detail on his own earlier prejudices and how they, like the society at large, stood to prevent LGBTQIA+ people from enjoying the legal sanctions given to them.