Legal tangle did same-sex lover in, say rights activists

“I love Saranya. We want to live together. Without her, I cannot live. Nor can she live without me,” pleads 22-year-old Sruthi. Saranya, 21, who has been dating Sruthi for the past seven years, was taken away by her parents after a highly charged courtroom drama last week.

This is not just another homosexual relationship hitting a roadblock, but an example of how an adult woman is unable to assert her rights because of the pressure brought on her, say the human rights lawyers representing the two women.

It all began when Sruthi and Saranya eloped to Bangalore from Shoranur in Kerala early last month. They took refuge with Sangama, a human rights organisation for individuals oppressed owing to their sexual preference.

When Saranya’s father filed a complaint with the police, stating that his daughter was missing, the girls appeared before the Sanjay Nagar police and stated that they did not want to return to their parents, who were forcing them to end their relation. They even held press conferences and gave media interviews to publicise their decision not to return home.

Saranya’s father, Mohanan PS, then filed a writ of habeas corpus in the Kerala high court, accusing Sruthi of kidnapping his daughter and detaining her in dangerous circumstances. The girls were brought before the divisional bench under Justice Anthony Dominic and PD Rajan on July 30.

“Saranya refused to talk to her parents when they approached her inside the courtroom. She didn’t want them to coerce her emotionally.

But when the case was called, the court—based on her father’s request—ordered her to speak to them without any interference or supervision from us,” says BT Venkatesh, senior human rights advocate handling the case for the women.

“She was alone with her parents and relatives for three hours. They emotionally pressed her while we watched on helplessly,” he adds.

The courtroom was packed with media, Saranya’s relatives and curious onlookers when the proceedings resumed in the afternoon. The women’s friends and activists, who had been supporting them during their stay in Bangalore, were ordered out of the hall.

“Her father held Saranya tightly by the hand and brought her before the judge, who asked if she had read the affidavit filed on her behalf. She mumbled ‘no’ as she didn’t know English.

That angered the court, which outrightly refused our plea to quiz her about the contents in Malayalam and concluded that she be sent to a government shelter. Her father, also the legal counsel who filed the petition, then informed the court that she wanted to return home. The court asked her if she preferred to go home instead of the government shelter. She nodded and the matter was closed,” says Venkatesh.

“Why didn’t the court ask her where she would like to live? Why was her option limited only to a government shelter or parental home? Doesn’t she deserve more choice?” Shakun Mohini, women’s rights activist, asks. “No one has any rights over a adult woman. No one, father, husband or son, can claim her custody,” she adds.

“The law is clear about the right to free will for anybody above the age of 18. Their choice is legally accepted even in cases of trafficking,” points out Sumitra Acharya, advocate and women’s rights activist.

“Women are full and free citizens of the country and their rights cannot be taken away because of the prevalent social bias,” adds Arvind Narrain, lawyer with Alternative Law Forum.

“Any institution that enables taking away the decisional autonomy of an adult woman, any institution that does not create an atmosphere where she is able to take her own independent decision, is committing a gross violation of the rights guaranteed by the constitution.

Judicial attitude has to change,” says Elavarthi Manohar, former director of Sangama, who is now heading Praja Rajakiya Vedike.

While the debate heats up, Sruthi is shattered by the turn of events. Her mother too has now approached the high court.

Sruthi says she has received several threats for her life. But what scares her the most is Saranya being forced into marriage by her parents or she committing suicide. With tears streaming down her cheeks, she says: “If she can hear me somehow, I want her to know that I am waiting for her.”

(Names of the women have been changed to protect their identity.)