Right To Marry and Protection by High Courts
Right To Marry and Protection by High Courts – Marriage is a partnership between two individuals that involves care, emotions, and a sense of safety towards each other. It is like sharing responsibilities, having mutual respect, supporting each other, and facing every battle of life together. But the question is, “Are marriages in India happening according to the couples’ will?”
The answer is a big No. Today, two individuals who made a mutual decision of marrying each other have to go through a big challenge of family interference. Families pressurrize their sons or daughters by giving reasons that the latter is not of their caste, not matching the same status, not following the same religious beliefs, and whatnot. Families even say that the individual is not worthy of our Family reputation and honour.
All humans on this planet are born free and equal in dignity and rights. Therefore, every individual have a right to marry a person according to his/her wish. As we are already aware of the Right To Marry and Protection by High Courts Act, which says that every individual has a right to marry and found a family based on their own consent.
Honour Based Violence and Forced Separation
Families threaten eloping couples to kill and harass them emotionally or seize all their property rights. This happens only because they want to marry a partner of their choice and families think that if the latter is from another caste or having low financial status then it would be a huge shame and dishonor for their family’s reputation. Many families are so close minded that they immediately isolate their child from his friends and take all their documents so that there is no chance left for them to sneak away.
Inter-Faith and Inter-Caste Marriages
As the world is growing progressively towards liberation , we also didn’t have the need to be stuck into the taboos around love marriages and inter-caste marriages. The government has also made an act known as “Special Marriage Act” which enables couples from different religions or castes to marry each other in a legal way without converting into other’s religion.
How High Courts Protect The Right to Marry
Though marriage is a mutual decision of two parties ,but still many couples have to face family compulsion and even the Life Threats. To protect them from forced marriages, the government has made a law protecting their by Right To Marry and Protection by High Courts. Now adult couples have no fear to marry a person according to their own wish. Courts have clearly stated that none from family or society could interfere in the decision of the couple by giving lame reasons of family honour and tradition. If the couple is being harassed, then they can immediately file a petition in the court for protection.
How to take Protection form High Court
If a couple is being threatened with violence then the first step they could do is to consult with a lawyer who can guide them with necessary details and the further process. Required documents will be identity proofs such as Aadhar Card, Birth proofs(like 10th marksheet) ,marriage photographs and marriage certificate. Aadhar Cards of two eyewitnesses will also be required. The lawyer will then file a petition in the court and then the court will do its due diligence. If both the parties are adults and their marriage is legal then the court will direct the police of the concerned police station and ensure the safety of the couple.
Challenges in Enforcement
Despite the government’s consistent efforts and rigorous decision of protecting adult couples’ marriage rights, still there are many challenges from which they have to go through.
- Lack of Police and Judicial Attention: Officials often treat these forced marriages as private matters and push them to negotiate with a third party to settle down the disputes. They also accept bribes from the families, which prevents victims from getting justice.
- Societal Fight: Regressive views of society about marriage and pressure from religious and cultural leaders adversely affects the legal protection by court.
- Rural-Urban Imbalance: Enforcement of laws and legal rights tend to be weak in rural areas due to limited resources and and access to courts and lawyers.
- Delay in Court Proceedings: The judicial processes can be slow and time consuming. Due to this delay , many cases gets piled up which will worsen the court’s decision.
- Inconsistent Enforcement of Orders: Even when the court passes the judgement in favour of the eloping couple regarding the maintenance and property rights that are granted to them, the enforcement of these orders can be inconsistent. This weakens the effectiveness of judicial decisions.
Conclusion
Everyone has the right to marry a person according to his wish to live life peacefully and our Constitution takes proper care about this right that no runaway couples have to face any kind of fear of being interfered by their families. The Judiciary didn’t make these protection petitions to oppose families but to safeguard the couples’ rights. The above blog Right To Marry and Protection by High Courts will help you understand more about the rights and protection acts.
