After husband files habeas corpus plea, ‘Kidnapped’ woman appears in Bombay HC, says went to her parents
Bajrang Dal member was held last week for ‘kidnapping’ her; woman tells court she will return to in-laws in ‘four-five days’ .
Bombay High Court (Express Photo by Pradeep Kocharekar/File) 
Bombay High Court (Express Photo by Pradeep Kocharekar/Files)
A 23-year-old woman who was allegedly kidnapped in Navi Mumbai in December last year came to the Bombay High Court on Monday after her husband filed a habeas corpus petition seeking that she be produced in the court.
Mankhurd resident Mohammed Iqbal Chaudhary (23) had filed the petition in December last year stating that his wife, Reshma, had been kidnapped by her family members because of their inter-faith marriage.
On Thursday, an autorickshaw driver and Bajrang Dal member named Sunil Pumpwell was arrested by the Navi Mumbai Police, in relation to the alleged kidnapping. According to Chaudhary, a division bench of Justice B R Gavai and Justice B P Colabawala heard the matter. They called Reshma and, a few minutes later, also called him.
“My wife told them the kidnapper took her to her parents’ and from there, she went with her parents, by her own will, to Mangaluru to her relatives’ house. She said that her mother was unwell and she would stay with her, and after four-five days, she will return home,” Chaudhary told The Indian Express. On Monday, he came to the court with his family. Chaudhary’s lawyer Hasnain Kazi said the court stayed action on an FIR of alleged kidnapping filed at the Vashi police station. The matter will be heard on Monday.
On Thursday, Pumpwell was arrested after the Bombay High Court directed the police to investigate a phone call received by Chaudhary. Reshma’s lawyer Sanjay Punalekar said: “The woman came to the court and submitted an affidavit stating that she went with her parents on her own will. Nobody had kidnapped her. She did not contact her parents-in-law because she was tense. She also said she would return to her parents-in-law in four-five days.”
On December 17, Reshma was allegedly kidnapped from Vashi in Navi Mumbai when she, along with Chaudhary, was walking outside a mall. Four men, who allegedly came in a car, had also assaulted Chaudhary. An FIR was subsequently registered with the Vashi police under relevant sections, including abduction.
Chaudhary, an assistant engineer, filed the habeas corpus petition before the court last month claiming that he had complained to the Mankhurd police several times fearing that his wife would be pressured to return to her parents’ home in Mangaluru and that he was being harassed and threatened. Chaudhary and Reshma met each other on social media in 2011 and became friends. Over the years, they fell in love and got married in July 2017, Chaudhary said in his petition. sailee.dhayalkar@expressindia.com
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