Harassed by in-laws, bahu returns home with Madhya Pradesh high court-appointed ‘Shourya Didi’ shield

BHOPAL: The Gwalior bench of the Madhya Pradesh high court on Wednesday allowed a woman who had alleged harassment by her husband and in-laws to return to her matrimonial home while directing monitoring of her safety for the next six months.

The order came while hearing a habeas corpus petition (WP No. 4268/2026) filed by Pradeep Rathore, who alleged that his sister Priyanka Rathore was being illegally confined and subjected to harassment by her husband Narendra Rathore and his family.

Adivision bench of Justice Anand Pathak and Justice Anil Verma heard the matter on March 11. According to the order, the petitioner claimed that his sister, married to Narendra Rathore, was being subjected to physical violence and was not allowed to communicate with her family.

“As per allegations, sister of petitioner who is married to Narendra Rathore is in illegal confinement. She is being tortured and subjected to physical violence by respondent No.5 and her in-laws are not allowing the corpus to communicate with petitioner,” the court order recorded.

During the hearing, the woman, her husband and the petitioner were produced before the court by police officials from Janakganj police station in Gwalior.

The woman informed the bench that she had been facing harassment and that on certain occasions her husband allegedly attempted to push her down the staircase, creating fear for her safety.

The court recorded her statement in the order, noting: “Respondent No5 (husband) and his father are harassing her regularly. At times, her husband tried to throw her from staircases and that gives an apprehension to the corpus that she may be subjected to any eventuality in future.”

However, she also told the court that she wished to continue living with her husband because the couple has an eight-year-old son. Her husband, who told the court he works in marketing with Bank, admitted that domestic disputes had taken place but assured the bench that he would take proper care of his wife. The court recorded his assurance, stating: “He undertakes before this Court that he and his father shall take care of corpus well. They will not cause any harm to the corpus.”

Taking note of the woman’s willingness to return to her matrimonial home, the bench allowed her to go back while reminding the husband and his father of their responsibility.

“Therefore, now it is the duty of husband and his father to take care of corpus and mend their ways to treat female properly,” the order said.

To ensure her safety, the court appointed government advocate Anjali Gyanani and two lady constables — Antima Tiwari and Aarti Lodhi of Janakganj police station — as ‘Shourya Didi’ guardians for the woman for the next six months. The order stated they would “take care of corpus so that she may not be subjected to abuse and physical violence at the hands of her husband and her father-in-law.”

The high court permitted the woman to go to her matrimonial home and directed that she, her husband and her father-in-law remain present before the court on the next date of hearing on March 25, 2026.