Bombay High Court Orders Police Protection for Woman After Interfaith Marriage with Father-of-Three

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Friday directed the Mumbai Police to provide protection to an inter-faith married couple, who feared that the Gujarat Police might take away the woman, reported India Today.

During the hearing, the woman told the court that she had married the already married man who had three children as per her own free will.

The bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Prithviraj Chavan said, “We direct that two-armed guards be given to the petitioners 24×7, (12 hours each), who will accompany them, wherever they go, until August 8, 2024”.

The bench also directed the Narol Police Station, Ahmedabad, to refrain from taking any coercive action against the petitioners, till the petitioners are heard.

The woman of Ahmedabad had left her home to marry a aman of Mumbai as per Muslim customs. After she left home, a missing complaint and later a case of theft was lodged against her by her family. It was alleged that she escaped from home with gold jewellery worth Rs 4,50,000 and cash of Rs 50,000.

The 24-year-old woman’s parents and brother were present in court too, along with Gujarat Police. The woman claimed that she had stolen nothing when she ran away from home on July 15, 2024.

She refused to go back to her parents’ house. The woman has married a partner with her maternal uncle in a firm, whom she knew for six years. She told the court that she knew that the man was married with three children. Even after that she decided to get married to him.

Observing that there was a lot of “animosity between the parents against the petitioners, the bench directed the police to give protection to the couple.