A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Tuesday allowed a woman to go along with her lesbian friend and live together after they expressed their willingness to live together.
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The Bench passed the order while allowing a habeas corpus petition filed by Adila Nazerin of Aluva alleging that her lover Fathima Noora of Kozhikode had been illegally detained by her parents.
In her petition, Ms. Nazerin pointed out that she was a lesbian by choice. In fact, she was in a relationship with 23-year-old Ms. Noora. Both of them were Orthodox Muslims and their parents took objection to their relationship. In fact, they were family friends. While the petitioner was studying in Class XII, she met Ms. Noora and both fell in love with each other.
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When the mother of Ms. Noora came to know about the relationship, many restrictions were imposed on the petitioner and her lover. She had to face a lot of physical and verbal abuse. Both parents tried their best way to separate the couples. The petitioners’ father pressured the petitioner to get her married and he started looking for prospective grooms, the petitioner said.
The 4th and 5th respondents also pressured her to marry and they made her wear short top and jeans. Both the petitioner and her lover had resisted the efforts to get them married off. They had decided to run away and live together once their graduation was over, she said.
On May 19 this year, as planned by both, the petitioner had boarded a train from Aluva and reached Kozhikode where Ms. Noora was present. They then took shelter at a safety home called Vanaja Collective, Kozhikode, and thereafter they called their respective parents and informed them that they were safe.
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Her lover’s parents, along with many goons, had come to the place and tried take away Ms. Noora using force. The petitioner’s mother and her sister, along with some other relatives, had also arrived there. It was only because of the intervention of the police that they had escaped from the hands of Ms. Noora’s family members and their goons. The mother and her relatives had taken away both of them and made them stay at their relative’s house at Muppathadam, Aluvam, according to the petition.
The father of the petitioner who had returned from Saudi Arabia had manhandled and assaulted the petitioner. Then the petitioner lodged a complaint at the Binanipuram police station and a case was registered against the father.
When the petition came up for hearing, Aneesh K.R., counsel for the petitioner submitted that Ms. Noora father and her brother had come to petitioner’s relative’s house at Muppathadam, accompanied by some goons. They created a scene there and took away Ms. Noora by using “criminal force” and against her will.
Ms. Noora’s parents and other relatives were detaining her illegally and they had plans to take her to Saudi Arabia and get her married off against her will. The petitioner had now taken shelter at a safety home and it was informed by Ms. Noora that she had been physically assaulted and mentally tortured by her patents and their relatives. Hence the habeas corpus petition had been filed before the High Court, the counsel submitted.