Kin lodge BDS student in mental asylum to foil her love marriage in Malappuram

Perinthalmanna: Three members of a family here in Kerala's Malappuram district have been booked and a couple of mental asylums have come under the scanner over the former's bid to foil a love marriage. This follows the High Court intervention after a 27-year-old woman was allegedly locked up at a mental healthcare centre by her own kin who objected to her wedding to a man she loved.

The woman, a student pursuing Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) course, was finally rescued by the police after her lover moved the Kerala High Court.

A native of Cherukaramala near Perinthalmanna, Sabikha was released after one month of ordeal. The BDS student has been in a relationship with Thrissur native Gafoor, 32, for seven years. However, the woman's kin objected to her relationship due to the youth's poor financial status.

During this time, the woman, who went with Gafoor, gave an application for registering their wedding. However, her father took her away, by promising to conduct their wedding, on November 3.

However, the woman went missing from November 5, Gafoor said in his complaint to the police. He then filed a habeas corpus plea in the High Court.

Though the High Court demanded that she be presented twice, her family claimed that they did not know where she was.

Finally, the Perinthalmanna police released the woman from the mental healthcare centre at Koothattukulam in Ernakulam.The woman was taken to Koothattukulam from a mental healthcare centre at Painkulam near Thodupuzha.

Though the woman did not have any mental illness, she was administered various injections and made to drink medicines. The police admitted the woman to another hospital as she had been rendered physically weak by then.

The High Court also ordered for a probe against the woman's father and brother by an officer of the DySP rank or above. The case has been filed against Ali of Cherukara, brother Shafeeq, and kin Shaeen.

The HC also instructed to probe about the functioning of the two mental healthcare centres.

The HC allowed Sabhika to be with Gafoor. The court also ordered the police to give police protection to the couple.