She Fears Ill-Treatment By Parents Of Husband- Kerala HC Refuses To Relief To Husband In Interreligious Marriage

The Kerala High Court has dismissed a petition seeking a writ of habeas corpus to cause production of the alleged detenue, the wife of the Petitioner in an interreligious marriage on the premise that she is under illegal detention of her father.

The Bench of Justice K. Vinod Chandran and Justice C. Jayachandran dismissed the petition filed by the husband contending that his wife has been illegally confined by her father.

The petitioner, Sharafudheen V.T. claimed that he married the alleged detenue pursuant to a deep love affair. Since belonged to different religions and due to the possible objections from their families, their marriage was registered under the Special Marriage Act. He claimed that his wife didn't contact him, he filed a complaint before the jurisdictional police, but it evoked no response.  

The Court directed the Station House Officer (SHO) to get a statement of the alleged detenue by a Woman Civil Police Officer, without the presence of her parents or any other family members.

As per her statement, the parents of the petitioner husband would never permit them to live together and she is seriously apprehensive of her safety at the house of the petitioner. She claimed to be not under any illegal detention by her parents.

The Court noted that "the alleged detenue is ambivalent in her stand and she prevaricates as between her desire to be with the petitioner on the one hand, and her serious apprehension and fear of being ill-treated by the parents of the petitioner, on the other hand." The Court also noted that she is categoric in her statement that she is not under any illegal detention of her parents.

"..we are not in a position to pass any order enabling the alleged detenue to live along with the petitioner", the Court said while dismissing the writ petition.

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