The Delhi High Court on Wednesday, 16 December, has directed police protection to an interfaith couple who have fled Uttar Pradesh fearing persecution under the recently passed Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020.
The couple claimed that they were forced to leave their home after alleged reports of harassment on interfaith couples, days after the ‘Love Jihad’ laws were passed by the Yogi government.
Advocate Vrinda Grover represented the couple and said they were turned away by the Delhi government’s Social Welfare Department which “jeopardises the right to life, liberty and privacy,” reported Hindustan Times.
Justice Anu Malhotra granted protection to the couple and directed the Delhi government to provide them a safe house, reported Hindustan Times.
The plea filed by advocates Soutik Banerjee and Aakarsh Kamra on behalf of the couple states that the 21-year-old Hindu woman met the 25-year-old Muslim man in Shahjahanpur.
They wanted to get married under the Special Marriage Act, but this was opposed by the woman’s family and relatives who allegedly physically and mentally harassed her. Fearing further persecution, the couple reached Delhi on 11 December and has been in touch with an NGO, reported Hindustan Times.
(With inputs from Hindustan Times)
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