KOCHI: The
Kerala High Court
on Tuesday allowed a
lesbian couple
who were allegedly forcefully separated by their parents to reunite.
A division bench led by
Justice K Vinod Chandran
allowed the reunification after considering a habeas corpus petition filed by 22-year-old Adhila Nasarin of Aluva.
The court initially asked the police to produce Adhila's partner before it and when she appeared before the bench, she said she wanted to live with the petitioner. As both women were adults and wanted to live together, the court allowed their plea.
Adhila had alleged in the petition that her lesbian partner Fathima Noora, a
Kozhikode
native, has been abducted by her family members. The couple had fled their homes and had arrived at a shelter run by an NGO in Kozhikode on May 19. After Noora's family arrived at the shelter and created a scene, police were summoned but the couple allegedly refused to go with their families.
Adhila's parents allegedly convinced the NGO that they would look after the partners and took them away. On May 23, Adhila filed a complaint with police alleging that Noora's parents took her away.
Later, after a meeting at the police station, the partners were allowed to leave together when they expressed their desire to live together, the plea said. But Noora's mother and some others took Noora away from Adhila's house on May 24, it was alleged. Alleging that police are not taking action, Adhila then approached the high court.
Adhila had initially taken to social media to draw attention to her
same-sex relationship
with a schoolmate, their families' opposition to the same and the subsequent taking away of her partner, allegedly by force, by the latter's parents.
She had alleged, in her video posts on social media, that not only has her friend's family taken her away by force, but the police also have not done anything to bring her back. However, the police had claimed that it had intervened in the matter right from the start.
According to her video posts, the two women met each other in Saudi Arabia when they were studying in Class XI in a school there. By Class XII, they realised they were both lesbians and that they were in love, said her posts.
When their parents found out about their relationship, they lied that they would discontinue it, she said and added that after they returned to India and joined college, they continued with their relationship.