Lesbian couple accused of stealing girl child gets bail

The Bombay high court has granted bail to a lesbian couple, arrested for allegedly kidnapping a five-year-old girl, noting that at worst it can be said they undertook an illegal approach to fulfil their desire to have a child.

A single bench of Justice Manish Pitale in the order of November 19 said the women belong to the LGBTQ+ community and have already suffered incarceration for about eight months.

At worst, it can be said that the applicants (couple) undertook an illegal approach to satisfy their desire of having a child by conniving with the co-accused persons to take away the minor girl child from her parents, the court said.

Such persons are unfortunately subjected to ridicule in the society and particularly in the confines of jail, it added.

The bench in its order said prima facie a kidnapping case was made out against the couple but it was a bailable offence.

Although a strong prima facie case is made out against the applicants (couple) that they indeed received the minor girl from the co-accused persons, there does not appear to be any material to show that the minor girl was exploited, HC said.

The court noted that the two women were in a same-sex relationship and wished to have a child together which was biologically impossible. In the present state of affairs, they would now also be unable to adopt a minor child, HC said.

The FIR against the couple was registered in March this year on a complaint by the child's parents in suburban Mumbai.

Apart from the couple, three other persons are also accused in the case.

In their complaint, the girl's parents said their child went missing on March 24, 2024. The girl was last seen with a woman from the same area.

After the case was registered, police traced the girl to the lesbian couple's house the next day.

The couple was arrested and has been in jail since then.

As per the couple, they were in a live-in relationship for ten years and were desirous of having a child. The duo allegedly paid Rs 9,000 to the other accused in the case for arranging the child.

The couple in their plea said they had not meted out any ill-treatment to the child.