SC orders police cover for inter-caste married couple

The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Haryana Police to provide protection to a newly-married couple who are facing threats to separate by the girl's parents and their khap for marrying outside the caste.

The vacation bench of Justice Prafulla C. Pant and Justice Amitava Roy directed the Haryana Police to provide security to Ashish, who works in AIIMS here and his wife Bharti, after the court was told that the couple was apprehending harm to their lives and unknown people were trying to reach them at the instance of girl's parents and immediate relatives.

Bharti, in her petition, told the court that though she had lodged a complaint at the Kotwali police station in Faridabad but police has not acted in the matter at all. In her complaint to police, she had sought police protection from her mother, father, and maternal and paternal uncles, and that if any harm comes to her or her family, then her parents should be held responsible.

At the outset of the hearing, the court asked about the presence of the couple but counsel Sugriva Dubey appearing for the couple told the court that he has advised them to stay hidden and not venture out.

At this, the court asked: "Do they apprehend threat even in the premises of the Supreme Court?"

Issuing notice to Delhi and Haryana Police, the court asked the couple to get their marriage registered which even otherwise is a mandatory requiremen t.The marriage of the couple was performed at Arya Samaj Mandir here.