The Delhi High Court on Friday directed the release of a woman from a children’s home in the Capital after it found out that she was an adult and also married.
A Vacation Bench of Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani and Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri gave the direction after the woman, during a videoconferencing hearing, said she wants to be with her husband.
The woman was lodged in the children’s home here after her father, in a missing complaint, claimed that she was a minor. In view of the statement made by the father, an FIR was registered at Wazirabad police station.
After missing complaint
Acting on the FIR, the police had traced the woman on December 25 and produced her before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC). She was then placed at Rose Udaan Rose Children’s Home for Girls, Delhi pursuant to the orders passed by CWC.
Her husband then moved the court with a habeas corpus petition, seeking his release of his wife. A habeas corpus petition is filed seeking direction to produce a person who is missing or illegally detained.
The husband submitted a copy of the birth certificate of his wife, which indicated her date of birth as June 17, 2002. He also produced Marriage Certificate from the Arya Samaj Marriage Mandal indicating that they were married on December 18, 2020. He also produced photographs of their marriage.
During the hearing, the Bench noted that as on December 18, 2020 the woman was a major. It also considered the fact that she wanted to live with her 25-year-old husband.
Following this, the court directed the woman to be released from the children’s home and sent with her husband.
The court also orally asked the police to take care of the couple’s lives.
