Andhra Pradesh High Court upholds gay couple's right to live together, asks parents not to 'interfere'

Amravati:

The Andhra Pradesh High Court has upheld the right of same-sex couples to live together, affirming their freedom to choose their partners.

A bench of Justices R Raghunandan Rao and K Maheswara Rao was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by a woman, Kavita (name changed), alleging that her partner Lalita (name changed) was forced to marry her father against her will. Had detained and kept him against. At his residence in Narsipatnam.

The court on Tuesday directed Lalita's parents not to interfere in the couple's relationship, saying their daughter is an adult and can take her own decisions.

The couple has been “living together” in Vijayawada for the past one year.

Earlier, based on Kavita's missing complaint, the police traced Laitha to her father's house and rescued her. She was then kept in a welfare home for 15 days, although she pleaded with the police that she was an adult and wanted to live with her partner.

Lalita had also filed a complaint against her father in September alleging that her parents were harassing her over relationship and other issues.

After police intervention, Lalitha returned to Vijayawada and started going to work and frequently meeting her partner.

However, Lalita's father once again came to her house and forcibly took her daughter away in the car. Kavita alleged in her habeas corpus petition that he kept her in his custody “unlawfully”.

The father also lodged a complaint with the police that Kavita and her family members had kidnapped his daughter.

Kavita's lawyer Jada Shravan Kumar, pointing to earlier decisions of the Supreme Court, argued that the detainee has expressed her express consent to live with the petitioner in the shared house of the petitioner's parents and that she would never live with her parents. -Will not want to go back to father and other family members. ,

Kumar also told the court that Lalita had also expressed her wish that she would withdraw the complaint filed against her parents if she was allowed to live with the petitioner.

Following the court's direction, Vijayawada Police produced Lalita before the High Court on Tuesday.

The bench also remarked that no criminal proceedings should be initiated against Lalita's family members as she was ready to withdraw the complaint.