On Wednesday India’s Delhi High Court ruled that a woman is able to live with whomever she wants.

This case arose after a woman, Sulekha, left her home to marry the man she chose, Babloo. The court found that Sulekha left her home of her own free will on September 9, 2020, and that since she was born in 2000 she was no longer a minor. In response, her family sought a writ of Habeas Corpus to produce Sulekha in court. However, the court did not impose Habeas but rather spoke to Sulekha on video chat and then ordered that she was allowed to stay where she wanted.

The court found that women who are of age are allowed to chose where and with whom they live of their own free will and that their family cannot force them to live somewhere else.

The court asked that Sulekha be escorted back to her husband’s house and that she and her husband both receive the pertinent information so that they may contact the police if her family threatens them. The judge also urged the family not to take ‘justice’ into their own hands and to respect the will of the courts instead.