HC questions UP Police for illegally detaining Hindu-Muslim couple due to ‘social pressure’

The Allahabad High Court on Saturday questioned the Uttar Pradesh Police for “illegally” detaining an interfaith couple due to “social pressure”, and directed the police to ensure their safety, The Hindu reported.

A bench of Justices Salil Kumar Rai and Divesh Chandra Samant said that detaining the couple – a Muslim man and a Hindu woman – on account of “social pressure” only increased the illegality of the detention. The court added that the officers responsible for detaining them were liable for departmental action.

The woman’s father had filed a first information report, claiming that his daughter was a minor and had been abducted by a Muslim man. Based on the complaint, the Aligarh Police arrested the man, The Hindu reported.

However, when the two were produced before court, the woman said she was an adult and had married the man willingly.

The couple alleged that after they left the High Court on Wednesday, they were abducted by the woman’s father and some others with the help of the police, Bar and Bench reported. The two were then taken to Aligarh, where the woman was placed in a One Stop Centre for women facing violence, while the man was detained in a police station.

The police on Saturday produced the couple before the High Court. Government advocate Patanjali Mishra told...

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