Supreme Court Provides Protection To 20-Year Old Girl From Her Own Family Members

The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Delhi police to provide protection to a 20-year old girl who expressed apprehension that there was a threat to her life caused by her own family members. In 2022, the girl had been granted a "right to live her life on her own" by Madhya Pradesh High Court after she stated that she did not wish to live with her family. The case before the vacation bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justice Bela Trivedi and Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra was concerning an alleged abduction of the 20-year old girl by the petitioner. 

The petitioner argued that he had not abducted the girl who had willingly fled her house owing to abuse by her own family members. Accordingly, he had challenged an order passed by the Madhya Pradesh High Court though which the High Court had cancelled the anticipatory bail granted to the petitioner. Noting that the High Court had cancelled his anticipatory bail granted as he was not cooperating with the investigation and was not responding to the Investigating Officer despite being called, the Supreme Court expressed its disinclination in interfering with the High Court order.

However, the hearing was extended when the 20-year old girl appeared in person and expressed apprehensions against her life from her family member. She categorically stated that she was a major and nobody has kidnapped or abducted her. Instead, she had left her family as they were abusive and were forcefully getting her married and now she lived on her own in Varanasi. Seeking protection of the court, the girl stated that her family had been torturing her. She said–

"Mein padhna chahti thi, mere parivar ne mujhe padhne nahi diya. Mere saath mere bhai batameezi karte the. Phir bhi inhone meri nahi suni. Mere saath maar-peet bhi karte the. Toh main ghar se nikal gayi..." (I wanted to study but my family did not let me. My brothers used to misbehave with me but they still did not listen to me. They used to beat me up too. So I left the house.)

Justice Bela Trivedi, questioning the girl, asked her how she got to know about the present matter as she was not even a party to the case. The girl informed the bench that a friend had told her about the case. However, she refused to name the said friend. When she refused, Justice Trivedi said–

"Aise kaise nahi bataenge? Agar aap jhooth bolte hai toh ham aapke khilaf bhi action le sakte hai." (How will you not tell? If you lie, we can also take an action against you.)

However, the girl insisted that she could not mean her friend as the friends life would also be in danger if she did. After further questioning from the bench on how she knew the petitioner, the girl then alleged that she was sexually abused by her brothers. She said the same after Justice Bela Trivedi said that her brothers would never want bad for her. She said–

"Agar woh mere bhai hai toh mere saath batameezi kyu karte hai?" (If they are my brothers, then why do they misbehave with me?)

Justice Bela Trivedi said–

"Woh jo bhi karte hai aapke bhale ke liye karte hai. Apni ladki ko aise thodi na jaane denge?" (Whatever they do, they do for your benefit. Can they let their girl go away just like that?)

To this, the girl said–

"Agar mere saath mere bhai batameezi kar rahe hai, gandi jagah haath daal rahe hai..." (If my brothers misbehave with me, put their hands in dirty places...)

However, Justice Bela Trivedi was quick to shoot the girls allegations down and did not let her finish her statement. She said–

"Nahi, aisa allegations nahi karenge aap. Kuch bhi bolte hai. Aapko kissi ne sikhaya hai?" (No, you will not allege things like this. Has someone taught you this?)

The girl insisted that no one had taught her this and she had really gone through the same and even informed her family members about it. She said– 

"Kissi ne nahi sikhaya. Maine apni maa ko bataya, apni behen ko bataya. Kissi ne suni nahi." (Noone has taught me this. I told my mother about it. I told my sister about it. But no one listened to me.) 

Justice Trivedi remained unfazed and refused to entertain the allegations. She said–

"Nahi aap bohot smart ho rahe hai. Judge se zyaada smart ho rahe hai. Kuch bhi bole jaa rahe hai." (No, you're being too smart. You are being smarter than the judge. You are saying anything now.)

Eventually, the court did grant security and protection to the girl to help her return to Varanasi where she was living alone. However, no action was taken against the allegations that she made against her brothers for sexual abuse.