The Bombay High Court Tuesday let a woman go wherever she wished to after she told the Court that she was major and in a relationship with the petitioner, Shaikh Mohd. Abid Ayyub, for the last five years.
It also directed the police to escort the girl, Kiran Ishwar Panchal, to a destination of her choice.
“Since said Ms. Kiran Ishwar Panchal is admittedly a major aged about 23 years old, she is free to move as per her own wish”, the Court said.
A division bench of Justices SS Shinde and Manish Pitale passed this order in a habeas corpus petition filed by the petitioner claiming that the woman was in illegal custody and detained by her father.
The bench yesterday interacted with the woman, who was produced before it by the police. In her interaction with the judges, the woman expressed her desire to go with the petitioner. She asserted that she was aged about 23 years and had been in a relationship with the petitioner for the last five years.
The bench said, “Since the woman has been produced before this court, the purpose of filing this petition has been satisfied. The facts of the case indicate that the parents oppose her relationship with the petitioner and it is perhaps, in this background, she was allegedly taken away by them, as alleged by her.”
