Kerala woman held captive by mother set free by court

A woman from Thrissur in Kerala, who was allegedly kept in the custody of a person in the city by her mother to end her relationship with a Muslim man back home, has been set free by a court here.

The 24-year-old woman had uploaded a video on social media on May 1, alleging that she had been kept under house arrest by her mother for the last two years and locked up in a house belonging to a Sangh Parivar leader.

She was freed and allowed to reunite with the relatives of her deceased father in Thrissur by the order of the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court here on May 25.

The court said it was pertinent to note that there was no dispute that the victim was an adult and that she could not be detained in any counselling centre, as provided under law.

"As per the settled principle of law, any woman who has attained adulthood is at liberty to go anywhere, and she cannot be detained under the care and custody of anybody including their parents," the order said.

On the request of the police and the victim, the court also agreed to transfer the case to Kerala as she was abducted from there.

"It is clear that earlier several incidents took place within the jurisdiction of the Guruvayoor police station (in Thrissur) and later the victim and her boyfriend came to Mangaluru and a case was registered.

"Therefore, if the entire case is transferred to the Guruvayoor police station, no hardship will be caused to the accused, as she is also a resident of Guruvayoor jurisdiction," said the order.

With the woman's video explaining her plight of having allegedly been locked up in the house of an RSS leader here as her mother objected to her relationship with the Muslim man going viral, police had registered an FIR at the city women's police station here and arrested the accused.

Both the woman and her mother were then produced before the court.

The court had granted bail to the accused and sent the woman to a counselling centre here after her mother submitted medical certificates to prove that she was mentally challenged.

The woman has now sought appointment with Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and DGP Loknath Behra this week, A Rajasimhan, the lawyer who appeared for the woman, said.

A fresh complaint would be filed there against her mother and the other accused in the case, including the mother's paramour, the abductors, members of RSS and VHP, the doctor and the hospital in Kerala, which allegedly colluded with the mother to prove the woman was mentally challenged, he said.