The Hon’ble Delhi High Court on 10th March 2021 directed the Delhi Police authority to offer protection to a lesbian, who was forced to live a married life and threatened to be ‘cured’ of her sexual orientation. Hon’ble Justice while granting the protection to the woman also mentioned that the woman is at liberty to shift to a different location if she wishes to.
The 23-year-old woman stated in her petitioner that she got married to a man in October 2019 against her will, and despite her parents being aware of her sexual orientation they forced her into the marriage, she also mentioned that she tried multiple times to put an end to the relationship.
The petitioner also elaborated upon the facts and deliberated that she had well-versed her husband immediately after the marriage about her identifying as a lesbian person. The woman said that the marriage was never consummated and she had also expressed her wish for taking divorce as a continuance of their marriage was adversely affecting her mental health and physical well-being. She further mentioned that even after she made it clear to the family and her husband about her identifying as a lesbian person the husband kept delaying breaking this news to his family.
On March 7, 2021, the petitioner’s mother called her up to notify her that she has contacted a religious guru who would cure her sexual orientation and will undertake conversion therapy using psychic interventions to change her sexual orientation, the petitioner stated.
After all, that happened the women started fearing for her safety and then decided to leave her matrimonial house so that her family cannot force her to perform dehumanizing rituals and she approached NGO Act Now for Harmony and Democracy (ANHAD) for a safe house, where the petitioner is presently located. The petitioner approached the Hon’ble court seeking immediate directions to ensure that she is provided with security and to direct her parental and matrimonial family to cease contacting.
The Hon’ble HC thereafter directed the Delhi Police authority to provide complete protection to the woman and also said that no NGO members should be harassed or harmed for helping her. The petition said that the police, in brazen breach of the law, leaked the information about the woman’s leaving her matrimonial home and contact details of NGO activists to her family who is now calling and harassing her and the activists.
