Bombay HC directs police to provide protection to same-sex couple amid family dispute: The TL;DR
While hearing the case, the division bench observed that the police should show sensitivity in such cases and not treat consenting adults this way.
The Maharashtra government agreed to the court’s suggestion to grant protection to the petitioner lesbian couple. (File photo for representation) The Maharashtra police has assured the Bombay High Court that it will give protection through constable in plainclothes to a same-sex couple, which received threats from one of the partner’s family.
The case: The petitioners had appealed the court after one of the two women, a native of Karnataka, had been compelled by police to return to her family after they filed a missing complaint. Her partner had allegedly been threatened that she would be arrested if the first petitioner did not return to her family, after which the first petitioner returned home.
What the petitioners said: The couples’ lawyer, advocate Vijay Hiremath, told the court that the petitioners were above 18 years of age and in a consensual relationship. They wished to live together after they met online. Arguing on their behalf, Hiremath pleaded that their parents or the police should not interfere in their lives, and sought direction to the authorities to provide appropriate protection to the partner who had been threatened.
Share
