Focus: Women Are Being Illegally Detained In Shelter Homes For Falling In Love, Yet Nobody’s Being Punished

The police routinely order ‘protective custody’ of women against their will, but action is never taken against erring officers, or magistrates.

For one month, a school teacher from Uttar Pradesh’s Amroha district was forcibly detained in a women’s shelter home, forbidden from stepping out, meeting people or going to work, all on police orders. Her crime? The woman, Kanchan Verma, wanted to live with her Muslim boyfriend, against the wishes of her parents.