Adila Nazrin and Fathima Noora, briefly got respite when the Kerala High Court allowed them to live together on Tuesday, 31 May.
Khushi Shah – Mumbai Uncensored, 1st June 2022
The end of May and beginning of June we wake up to Pride month. With a gift, better than expected the Kerala high court on Tuesday reunited a lesbian couple and allowed them to live together, days after they were separated by their parents who did not approve of their relationship. “It is a fresh lease of life for us. We thank all who supported us,” the couple told a local channel after the verdict.
Their love story goes back to their school days in Saudi Arabia where Nazrin and Noora had met and fallen in love. When each of them told their parents about their love, they faced severe opposition. The women reportedly had to tell their parents that they called the relationship off. However, they however continued their relationship.
When on 19 may they finally opened up to their parents again they were strongly objected and the couple then ran away and sought help from Vanaja Collective in Kozhikode. Vanaja Collective is an organisation that helps marginalised communities, especially those belonging to the LGBTQIA+ community.
The two sets of parents had carefully plotted to trick the girls so that they could take them away by taking them to a relative’s house in Ernakulam’s Aluva where “they were emotionally blackmailed.”
After filing a Habeas Corpus petition alleging the abduction of Noora against her will, the 23-year-old woman in a social media post claimed that her lesbian partner was forcibly taken away by the latter’s family and also alleged that the police refused to entertain her complaint saying her parents have every right to take or keep their daughter and dismissed it as a ‘’family matter’’. “On May 27 when we inquired with Thamarassery police station about the woman’s partner, they told us bluntly that she was with her parents and they cannot do anything on parents beating their children,” H Gargi, member of Vanaja, said.
She further claimed that she was assaulted by her partner’s parents when she tried to prevent them from taking the latter away on May 26th and that her partner was locked up in a room by her parents and tortured to end the relationship and change her sexual orientation.
At court, Fathima expressed her desire to leave with Adhila, which was accepted by the court and passed an order for the same. Adhila had earlier stated that Noora’s family is forcing her into ‘conversion therapy’ a practice that aims to change, ‘cure’ or ‘repair’ an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity, is a global problem that causes severe physical and psychological suffering to its victims.
Adhila said though the court allowed them to live together, they were not ‘free’ yet. She said, “It was tough & drained us emotionally. We got a lot of support from people from the LGBTQ community. With the Kerala High Court order, we are happy & free. Actually, we are not completely free as our families are still threatening us.”
