The right for young women to exercise their agency
In 2017, a Kerala High Court order sparked outrage when it annulled the marriage of Hadiya and handed over the custody of the adult woman to her father. The next year, the Supreme Court restored the marriage. While hearing the case, the SC had to point out what should have been self-evident truth: As an adult, Hadiya could make her own decisions. Yet, what happened to Hadiya, happens daily to women—and sometimes even men—when they choose to go against their parents’ wishes. Too often the police, to which both the youngsters and their parents may turn to for aid, take a paternalistic approach at odds with the rights of young adults. An example was a recent incident in Chennai when police from Madurai allegedly harassed NGO staff and a young lesbian couple based on a missing person’s complaint filed by one of the women’s parents. Although both women are adults and capable of making their own decisions, it was reportedly only after lawyers stepped in that the couple and NGO staff were let off. The silver lining to the episode, however, was a Madras HC order that considered the couple’s point of view and sought to provide counselling to their parents. The judge also acknowledged his own efforts to overcome his preconceived notions to build something purposeful from the case. The order follows another extraordinary intervention by the same HC some months ago in which police were told to help a young woman, illegally confined by her disapproving parents, to leave her home with her boyfriend. In both cases, the judiciary recognised what the police ought to have: the right for young women to exercise their agency.
With the police and judges drawn from the same society as the disapproving parents, it is but natural that they may be inclined to empathise with the parents. However, in a conflict between social prejudice and the law, they must choose the law. As the HC order acknowledges, this may not be easy but police and judges, journalists and politicians, all who influence society must take the effort to break our preconceived notions and evolve an understanding of the agency of the young, the disabled, the queer and the marginalised.