A woman has sued her own family members, accusing them of forcing her to cohabit with a man against her free will.
Ms Kajal Kishor Bhundia accuses her father, Kishor Naran Bhundia, of conspiring with Mr Chiman Mandalia’s family to forcibly take her to Webuye town with the intention to detain her and forcing her to cohabit with his son, Mr Sawan Chimanlal.
In her petition at the High Court in Mombasa, Ms Bhundia also accuses her three brothers of continually frustrating her by conspiring with Mr Chimanlal, Mr Mandalia and her father with the aim of forcing her to move in with Mr Chimalal.
Ms Bhundia has accused Mr Chimanlal of unlawfully forcing her to cohabit with him in total violation of her right to human dignity.
She argues that the respondents (both families) have colluded to unlawfully and arbitrarily coerce her to move in with him against her free will.
Ms Bhundia is seeking a declaration that there is a violation of the Constitution and infringement of her right to human dignity, freedom, security and residence and that the respondents’ actions are unlawful. She wants an injunction issued against them to refrain from monitoring or looking for her.
Ms Bhundia says that some time last year, Mr Mandalia and her father organised a forced union between herself and Mr Chimanlal against her free will and consent.
“The respondents later on forcibly took the petitioner to Webuye where she was detained in Mr Chimanlal’s house for six months,” argues Ms Bhundia.
According to her, while she was detained at Mr Chimanlal’s house, she could not go to work or move out of the house, an act she says tortured her emotionally and psychologically.
Ms Bhundia says that she had to convince Mr Chimanlal and his father that she needed to travel to Mombasa to visit her family and that they ensured that she was accompanied by Mr Chimanlal.
The petitioner says that when she arrived in Mombasa, she explained to her family that she was not willing to go back to Mr Chimanlal’s house in Webuye. She says that her father and brothers held discussions with Mr Chimanlal and resolved that she should travel back to Webuye.
“Out of the unending pressure from the respondents, the petitioner was forced to travel back to Webuye with the first and second respondents (Mr Chimanlal and his father),” the suit papers filed in court state.
Ms Bhundia says that Mr Chimanlal and his father still locked her inside the house and she could only leave in the company of Mr Chimanlal who would at all times monitor her movements.
The petitioner further says that she explained the situation to her family members for the second time and informed them that she urgently needed to leave Webuye and join them in Mombasa.
“The petitioner had to give the first and the second respondents assurance that she would not talk about what had ensued in Webuye when she left,” says Ms Bhundia.
She says that Mr Chimanlal and his father followed her to Mombasa and held a lengthy meeting involving her and her family members at a hotel in Mombasa.
Ms Bhundia says that during the meeting, she was shocked to learn that her father and her brothers had colluded with Mr Chimanlal and his father to forcibly take her back to Webuye.
She accuses her father and her brothers of topping her from going to work on November 26 and locking her inside a house.
Ms Bhundia also says that Mr Chimanlal took her from her father’s house in Nyali where she had been locked up, to a hotel and that plans were under way to have her travel to Webuye where she was to stay with Mr Chimanlal and his father.
“The petitioner was forced to scamper for her safety at an undisclosed location where she is staying in fear as the respondents (both families) are looking for her with the intention to forcibly take her back to Webuye against her free will,” part of the petition states.
Ms Bhundia is seeking compensation for loss of employment by virtue of the illegal detention and a declaration that her economic and social rights have been violated.
