Kerala High Court Directs Counselling Of Parents, Sibling Of 21-Yr-Old Trying To 'Find Her Proper Gender Identity'

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday directed the counselling of the parents of a 21-year-old individual, who is seeking help from a Community Organisation to find her real 'gender identity'.

The Division Bench comprising Justice Anu Sivaraman and Justice C. Jayachandran directed that the family be sensitized about Transgender persons by an expert, to be identified by the District Legal Services Authority, Alappuzha. 

"Having interacted with the petitioners and their children, we are of the opinion that the petitioners also require a counselling to accept the factum of the different gender identity, which the alleged detenue seeks to express. We therefore direct the Secretary, DLSA, Alappuzha to take appropriate steps to identify a proper person for interaction and counselling with petitioners for the specific purpose as stated above," the Court ordered. 

The Court passed the Order while considering the habeas corpus petition filed by the parents of the individual. 

The petitioners in their plea alleged that their younger daughter had gone missing on September 2, 2023, and that they eventually came to know that she had been lured by a community organization named 'Sahayathrika', that claimed to work for the benefit of transgender persons. The petitioners claimed that the said organization is suspected to be misleading the younger generation to lead a free life, irrespective of gender differences.

The petitioners averred that although they had approached the Station House Officer of the Vanitha Police Station at Thrissur, the latter claimed that since the petitioners' daughter had attained the age of majority, the petitioners could only obtain custody of their daughter by filing a habeas corpus petition. 

The petitioners claimed that the respondent organization was not registered to protect the young generation, and that there was always the danger of use of drugs by the youth under the patronage of the said organization. The petitioners feared that their daughter would also be 'abducted to unknown destinations for drug abuse' or sold to a sex racket. The petitioners thus filed the habeas corpus petition seeking the release of their daughter. 

When the detenue was produced before the Court yesterday, the Court took note of her submission that there was no illegal detention and that the respondent organziation was only aiding her to find her proper gender identity. The Court accordingly, recorded the submission and permitted the detenue to go with the organization for a period of two weeks. 

The petitioners and their elder daughter were directed to appear before the Secretary, DLSA, Alappuzha for further steps in this regard on September 20, 2023.

The matter has been posted for further consideration on October 3, 2023. 

Counsel for the Petitioners: Advocates G. Hariharan, Praveen Hariharan, K.S. Smitha, V.R. Sanjeev Kumar, and Bijoy Sam George

Counsel for the Respondents: Advocates Rebin Vincent Gralan, Dinesh G Warrier and Vimal Vijay

Case Title: XXX & Anr. v. Station House Officer & Ors. 

Case Number: W.P. (Crl.) 903/ 2023

Click Here To Read/Download The Order