On Valentine’s Day eve, a runaway couple, who were separated following a complaint by girl’s father, will be reunited for the first time since May last year when the man was arrested. His wife, in the meantime, gave birth to their daughter at a women’s shelter home here.
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday allowed 27-year-old Ankit Kumar to meet his wife and four-month-old daughter during “reasonable hours’ at Nirmal Chhaya home for women here.
A Bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and I.S. Mehta also asked the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) to decide on the plea made by Mr. Kumar seeking the release of his wife and daughter within five working days.
“In the meantime, Superintendent, Nirmal Chhaya Complex, where the mother-daughter are currently lodged, is directed to permit the petitioner, Ankit Kumar, to interact with them at all reasonable hours, in accordance with law and the rules,” the Bench said.
Mr. Kumar, a Delhi resident, had moved a habeas corpus petition before the High Court urging that his wife and daughter be produced before the court and seeking permission to take them home.
Advocate Amresh Anand, who represented Mr. Kumar, submitted before the court that to date his client “has not even seen his child, forget about caressing her”. Mr. Anand urged the “kind indulgence” of the High Court in reuniting the small family.
He said that Mr. Kumar and his wife had known each other for the past few years as they were residing in the same area. Over a period of time they became very close and fell in love.
Fled after marriage
When the girl turned 18, Mr. Kumar and she secretly solemnised their marriage at Birla Mandir here on February 18 last year. A week later, fearing that her father had come to know about their marriage, the girl ran away with Mr. Kumar, said the advocate. The couple rented a flat in Noida and started living there as husband and wife.
The girl’s father lodged a police complaint saying his daughter was less than 18 years old and had been kidnapped. Based on the FIR, Mr. Kumar was arrested and his wife was sent to the shelter home.
After about seven months of legal proceedings, Mr. Kumar was acquitted of all charges by a local court here. Immediately after the release he tried to speak to his wife, but was denied permission.
Mr. Anand said the mother-daughter are not allowed to go outside the shelter home and she cannot even make any calls.
Mr. Kumar wrote to the CWC and also to Nirmal Chhaya seeking the release of his wife and daughter in December last year. When his plea remained unanswered for about two months, he moved the High Court.
