Coming to the rescue of an interfaith couple, whose lives were in danger, the Bombay High Court has directed the Mumbai police commissioner to immediately provide them with round the clock police protection.
A vacation bench of justices SJ Kathawalla and SP Tavade, on November 5 observed that the lives of the couple, the boy’s family and two witnesses to their marriage was "under threat and danger” and "have to be forthwith provided round the clock police protection”.
The Police Commissioner, the additional police commissioner, the DCP – Zone 10, the ACP and the senior police inspector of the concerned police station has been directed to take necessary steps to provide police protection.
The HC was hearing a petition filed by the couple seeking protection from the girl’s parents, belonging to the Ahir community, who are strongly against the marriage to a Brahmin boy.
The couple had made a written representation to the court last week. The court observed the contents of the letter “illustrates the extremely cruel treatment meted out to the Petitioner No.1 (girl) physically as well as mentally by her family members.”
The court had then appointed lawyers to help the couple take proper legal recourse. Following which a petition was filed seeking police protection.
The couple had married in October last year and were residing in Powai. As the girl’s parents and her community were against the marriage, they had informed the local police that they had married out of their free will.
The couple’s advocates – Deepa Chavan, Manjiri Shah and Navdeep Vora – informed the court that the girl’s relatives had visited them in Mumbai and said that she should once come to their village in Gujarat to pacify the community. Trusting their bonafides, she went to her village in May this year.
However, her parent forcibly got her married to another man from their community. There she was not only tortured by another man but also by community heads and the sarpanch of her village.
The other man claimed to have “purchased” her from her father and community heads by paying money and jewellery. The court order states that the girl “suffered rape, grievous assault including heinous grievous injury to her private parts deliberately inflicted by Respondent No. 6, who even tried to injure her with burning cigarette butts.”
The couple has alleged that, while in the village, she was forced to file multiple complaints against her husband for kidnapping and rape. Her husband was arrested for this and spent over four months in jail before being released on bail.
However, she managed to escape in August this year and return back to Mumbai. They again informed the local police about the girl being tortured. However, the police failed to take any action as the crime allegedly took place in Gujarat.
In August and September, the girl’s family made threatening phone calls to the two persons who stood as witnesses to their marriage. They both received death threats and were also threatened that their children would be kidnapped, states the plea.
Meanwhile, the other man lodged a complaint with the police in Gujarat that the girl had taken away Rs 50,000 cash and jewellery worth Rs 7-8 lakh from his house. A police team from Gujarat visited them and gave them a notice by which she was summoned to the local police station in Gujarat within seven days. However, she did not go out of fear.
The HC noted that the said notice “though bears some signature, does not bear any official stamp of the police station”.
The judges even expressed displeasure on non-action by the local police. “It is also submitted that the local police authorities have refused protection and have not taken cognizance of any complaints attempted to be filed by the petitioners on the specious plea that some of the incidents occurred in Gujarat,” reads the order.
While directing police protection, the judges have directed the order copy to be sent to Chief Public Prosecutor Aruna Pai, the DGP of Gujarat and the senior police inspector of the local police station in Gujarat. “All these police officers at Gujarat shall produce a copy of this order before the courts at Gujarat, in the event that the police authorities or the respondents seek any orders against the couple or the guy’s family members,” observed the court. The respondents are the girl’s family, the other man and community heads in Gujarat.
The HC has directed the girl’s father, brother, the alleged husband, the community head and the sarpanch to remain personally present in the court on November 10. “If they fail to do so, the Court shall be constrained to pass necessary orders to ensure their presence before it,” observed the court.
