Gandhi Mohanta v. State of Odisha
Case brief
What is this about?
Keywords: kidnapping complaint by mother; girl rescued from Jharkhand; section 164 CrPC statement — voluntary departure, request to be taken away from beating brother, insistence on marriage, temple marriage in Jharkhand; young couple want to be together; police expected to deal with case with sensitivity; writ petition disposed. Bench: Arindam Sinha and M.S. Sahoo, JJ. (Orissa High Court, 03.05.2024). Potentially relevant to police handling of elopement/self-choice marriage complaints where the sole allegation is kidnapping and the s.164 statement supports voluntariness.
What did the court decide?
Noting the girl's section 164 CrPC statement (that she went of her own volition with the boy, asked to be taken away from her brother who was beating her, insisted upon marriage, and married the boy at a temple in Jharkhand), that the complaint lodged by the petitioner was solely of kidnapping with no other allegation, and that the young couple want to be together, the Court expected the police to continue their good work and deal with the case with sensitivity, and disposed of the writ petition.