CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court on Monday allowed the petition of a 24-year-old woman to get back her same-sex partner who was forcibly separated from her.
Both were in a live-in relationship.
In a habeas corpus petition, the woman had alleged that her partner was in custody of her mother and uncle at Bari in Jajpur district.
The division bench of Justice SK Mishra and Justice Savitri Ratho allowed the petition after interacting with the victim woman through virtual mode and ascertaining whether she wants to stay with her partner.
Disposing of the petition, the division bench directed the Superintendent of Police, Jajpur to provide protection to the victim woman so that she could immediately join the company of the petitioner.
During an interaction between Justice Ratho and the victim woman through video conferencing, it was made clear to her that merely because the writ petition had been filed making allegation of illegal restraint, she was not under any obligation or compulsion to join the company of the petitioner and she could stay with her parents if she chose to. But the woman very categorically stated that she wants to join the company of the petitioner without further delay.
Details of the order could not be assessed as a copy of the judgment was not available. The petitioner had approached the Court with the grievance that her partner has been forcibly taken away by her mother and uncle.
The family members of her partner are going to forcibly arrange her marriage with someone else, she had said while seeking the court’s intervention.
The petitioner had claimed that both of them fell in love with each other in 2011 and had been enjoying a consensual relationship since 2017.
A joint affidavit on March 17, 2020 submitted before the Court indicated that both had sworn before the Executive Magistrate, Bhubaneswar, declaring that they were staying together in their live-in relationship.