Amaravati: The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Tuesday, December 17, united a lesbian couple, in which one partner was held forcefully by her parents. The AP police have been directed to provide security to the couple, if required, to ensure no parental interference in their constitutional right to live together.
The verdict came based on the habeas corpus petition filed by a 25-year-old woman, a native of Krishna Lanka of Krishna district, over her 27-year-old same-sex partner being held captive by her parents, against the partner’s will.
Lesbian couple separated by parents
According to the petitioner, the lesbian couple had been living together for a year, before the illegal parental confinement of her partner. She had filed a missing complaint with the local police, to which the missing partner’s whereabouts were traced into a welfare home in Pendurthi of Visakhapatnam. Upon enquiring at the welfare home, it was learnt that her parents had taken her from there, and had been illegally confined her in their residence.
High Court’s intervention
The High Court bench comprising Justices R Raghunandan Rao and K Maheswara Rao had served notices to the confined partner’s parents, which returned unserved. Following this the judges directed the police to produce the woman before the court.
Upon the Krishna Lanka police producing the confined partner before the court on Tuesday. The judges interacted with the couple, and both partners expressed their desire to live together as a couple.
Judgement
After recording their statements, the court adjudged the verdict, allowed them to live together according to their wish and directed the police to provide security to the couple if necessary. The court also said that no criminal proceedings should be taken against the parents over the illegal detention of the woman.
In the verdict, the court upheld the right to live together as adults, and their autonomy as individuals to make decisions in their lives without the fear of interference from another person, even if they are a family member.
The legal proceedings and the verdict by the AP HC highlighted the rights of LGBTQ+ persons assured by the constitution of India, which guarantees the relationship between two consenting adults and their fundamental right to live together.
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