Hyderabad, July 8 -- The Bombay High Court has directed the Telangana Police not to take any coercive action against a 21-year-old Hyderabad woman, ruling that an adult has the legal right to decide where she wants to live and cannot be forced to return to her parents' home.

A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad passed the order on July 2 while hearing a petition related to a missing person case registered by the Telangana Police.

Left home voluntarily, Woman tells court

The woman told the court that she had voluntarily left her adoptive parents' home in Hyderabad and moved to Mumbai in June. She said she was working with a non-governmental organisation and had left because she did no...