HC Slams 'Conservative' State After TN Same-Sex Couple Denied Security

The Court Asked Police to Give Adequate Protection to the Detenue and the Petitioner

- Ayesha Arvind

BENGALURU: Society's conservative views cannot justify the denial of state protection, the Madras high court remarked as it criticised the Tamil Nadu police for failing to protect a same-sex couple from harassment and threats by one of the partners' families. The court has noted that the state machinery has a duty to act promptly and sensitively when people from the LGBTQIA+ community seek help.

A division bench of justices G.R. Swaminathan and V. Lakshminarayan passed the May 22 order allowing a habeas corpus writ filed by a woman seeking police protection and alleging that her "close friend", a 25-year-old woman, had been forcefully detained by her family.