Separated By Parents, Lesbian Couple Reunited By Kerala High Court
India is not the best place for people from the LGBTQ+ community. While our legal system has decriminalised homosexuality, it still hasn’t been able to give a safe space to the people from the community to live with dignity. More so, since Indian families are not very accepting of homosexuality. In a recent case, a lesbian couple from Kerala was separated by their families as they did not approve of the relationship. One of the woman’s family allegedly forced her to undergo counselling and therapy in a bid to change her sexual orientation. But the Kerala High Court reunited the couple and allowed them to be in a live-in relationship.
In the abovementioned case, a 23-year-old woman filed a habeas corpus petition in the Kerala High Court and sought help from the court to find her same-sex partner. In her petition, the woman claimed that both she and her partner are legal adults and above the age of 18 years and are within their legal rights to live together. She further claimed that her partner’s parents forcibly separated them and forced her partner to undergo illegal conversion therapy. Taking cognisance of the plea, the Kerala High Court directed the parents of the petitioner’s partner to produce her before it. A division bench of Justices Vinod Chandra and C Jayachandran spoke to both women separately and then together in an in-camera proceeding. Live Law reports that the same-sex couple informed the court about their decision to live together which was permitted by the court. An order with regards to it was also passed by the court.
Speaking to a local television channel, the lesbian couple thanked people who supported them and revealed their intentions to relocate to Chennai at a later stage. The petitioner shared that she was forced to speak to the media and approach the court to seek justice as approaching the police did not have a positive outcome.
Also Read: Madras HC Issues Directive To Sensitise School Teachers On Problems Faced By LGBTQIA+ Students
The lesbian couple has been in a relationship for over 4 years and recently came out to their parents to which they objected. As per a report by Live Law, the family members of the couple were also verbally and physically abusive towards them and tried to coerce them to end their relationship. The report further claims that unable to handle the abuse, the couple fled and took refuge in an NGO that works for the welfare of the LGBTQ+ community. But the duo was somehow separated from each other yet again. Following the incident, the petitioner shared a video on social media revealing that her partner was forcibly separated from her and forced into illegal conversion therapy. She had also revealed that the duo were not allowed to contact each other. This video shared by the petitioner had gone viral a few days ago.
Also Read: Tamil Nadu Makes Police Harassment Of LGBTQIA+ People Punishable. Other States Should Take Notes!
Well, looks like the Kerala High Court turned knight in shining armour for this same-sex couple. We stan!
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