HC Upholds Woman’s Right to Choose Partner in Interfaith Live-In Relationship

The case involved a 19-year-old Hindu woman who left home to live with a 20-year-old Muslim man. The woman's father complained to the police, and she was sent to a government women's shelter home in Chembur.

The man filed a Habeas Corpus petition to get her released from the shelter, arguing that the woman had voluntarily declared her decision to live with him in a consensual relationship. 

The Court, after hearing the petition, asked her to wait for the man to settle down. The court said that the woman should be allowed to make her own decision and that no one could gain custody of her.