Kerala HC reunites same-sex couple separated by parents

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala high court on Tuesday reunited a same-sex couple and allowed them to live together, days after they were separated by their parents who did not approve of their relationship.

The order came while a division bench was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by a 23-year-old woman on Monday, seeking the court’s help in finding her samesex partner. The woman, in her petition, said both she and her partner are adults and within their legal rights to live together. The petitioner also claimed that her partner was forced by her parents to undergo rigorous counselling and therapy to change her sexual orientation.

Taking cognisance of the plea, the high court directed the parents of the petitioner’s partner to produce her before it. On Tuesday, the division bench of justices Vinod Chandran and C Jayachandran met both the women separately and later together. Proceedings were held in-camera and no one other than the couple were allowed in the court room. Both women informed the court about their intention to live together. The court then allowed the same and passed an order to that effect.

“It is a fresh lease of life for us. We thank all who supported us,” the couple told a local channel after the verdict, adding that they intend to relocate to Chennai eventually. The petitioner said she was forced to talk to the media and approach the court as her “hopes receded after approaching the police”. The petitioner, a native of Ernakulam, also cited the Supreme Court’s landmark judgment from 2018 that decriminalised homosexuality in India.

On May 28, the 23-year-old woman in a social media post claimed that her lesbian partner, a Kozhikode native, was forcibly taken away by the latter’s family and also alleged that the police refused to entertain her complaint saying parents have every right to take or keep their daughter. However, the police claimed that it had intervened in the matter right from the start and that the other woman had given in writing that she was leaving with her parents willingly.

“We welcome the verdict of the court. It is a big boost to sexual minorities who still face discrimination,” said Shyma S Prabha, state coordinator of the transgender justice cell.

THE PETITIONER CITED SC’S 2018 JUDGMENT THAT DECRIMINALISED HOMOSEXUALITY IN THE COUNTRY