KOCHI: High Court verbally opined that women are not slaves of mother or mother-in-law and their decisions should not be undervalued. This was said by Justice Devan Ramachandran in a petition filed by a female doctor from Kottarakkara requesting that her divorce petition be transferred from the Kottarakkara Family Court to Thalassery.

The first petition filed by the complainant was dismissed by the Thrissur Family Court. The family court dismissed the petition, saying that they should forget their mutual disputes and understand the sanctity of marriage and live together. Following this the complainant approached the Kottarakkara court. The High Court criticized the Thrissur Family Court proposal. The single bench said that the directive of the family court was patriarchal in nature and not the mindset of 2023.

The single bench reminded that women are not slaves of their mother or mother-in-law when the husband pointed out that the family court had directed the petitioner to listen to her mother and mother-in-law.

The High Court also did not accept the husband's contention that there were only minor issues between them that could be settled out of court. The court can only allow this if the petitioner also agrees. Understand that the petitioner has a mind of her own. The court also asked whether they were forcing her to go to arbitration.

The husband argued that it would be difficult for his elderly mother to appear if the case was transferred to the Thalassery court and this should not be allowed. However, the High Court allowed the request of the petitioner stating that the mother can be present through video conferencing.