South African Cricketers marry .. Supreme Court landmark judgement in Sec 377 IPC

Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. ___ (2015)  is a landmark civil rights case in the Supreme Court of the United States .. .. ..

Sukhinder Kaur  was the Mayor of Dunedin, New Zealand, from 1995 until her retirement from the position in 2004. She was also regarded by some as New Zealand's most prominent politician from the country's Indian community.  She is married to Glenn Turner, the famous Kiwi batsman who scored 171 n.o against East Africa in inaugural WC in 1975 and followed it up with a 114 against India .. ..

Back home in Mysuru, in Nov 2014, touring South African women played a solitary test against hosts India.  Centuries from Thirush Kamini and Poonam Raut imposed enough scoreboard pressure for Harmanpreet Kaur to run through South Africa Women as India Women recorded an innings and 34-run win in the only Test in Mysore. Interestingly 8 SA and 3 Indians made their debut in that mach including captain Mignon du Preez who rallied with 102 off 253 balls which formed the spine of the South African reply until it was broken. The list of debutants read :  India -  Poonam Yadav RS Gayakwad S Verma;  South Africa -  NA Moodley D van Niekerk M Kapp M du Preez L Lee NP Thabethe CL Tryon Y Fourie

Have read about legendary Richard Hadlee.. .. besides the legend, there were other Hadlees too.  Walter Arnold Hadlee, father played in 11 tests – then came Barry George Hadlee, a batsman, who played in 2 ODIs. Bowling fast, Dayle Hadlee played 26 tests and 11 ODIs.  Legend took 431 wickets in 86 tests – reaching summit before Kapil Dev broke that record.  Richard Hadlee’s wife too was a crickter - Karen Ann Marsh played a single match for the New Zealand national side at the 1978 World Cup.   A pace-bowling all-rounder, her sole One Day International (ODI) appearance for New Zealand came at the 1978 World Cup in India, against England.

This post is on Cricket marriages   

Alyssa Jean Healy, a right-handed batter and wicket-keeper,  is the daughter of Greg Healy, who was part of the Queensland squad, while her uncle Ian Healy was Australia's Test wicket-keeper and held the world record for the most Test dismissals. In 2015, she was engaged to fast bowler Mitchell Starc and were later married.

South African  leg-spinning all-rounder turns the ball prodigiously. Dane van Niekerk made her international debut for South Africa at the 2009 World Cup in Australia, playing in South Africa's loss to the West Indies in the group stages, and then taking 3 for 11 as South Africa beat Sri Lanka in the 7th place play-off later in the tournament. In 2013 she took a hat-trick on her way to figures of 5 for 28 against the West Indies in St. Kitts; and also that year scored her first international half-century against Pakistan.  Van Niekerk, who won the 2017-18 CSA Women's-Cricketer-of-the-Year Award, is South Africa's leading wicket-taker in ODIs, with 125 wickets from 95 matches.  Van Niekerk, with 1770 runs, is fourth on the list of highest run-getters in ODIs for South Africa.  She is in news for her marriage !

South Africa captain Dane van Niekerk and fast-bowling allrounder Marizanne Kapp celebrated their wedding recently, becoming the second set of current international team-mates to get married after New Zealand's Amy Satterthwaite  and Lea Tahuhu last year. Kapp made the news of their wedding public via an Instagram post and it is understood that the event was attended by most of their South Africa team-mates. The duo had made their international debuts within two days of each other, during the 2009 Women's World Cup. Van Niekerk debuted on March 8 against West Indies, and Kapp followed on March 10 against Australia.

Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. ___ (2015), is a landmark civil rights case in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The 5–4 ruling requires all fifty states to perform and recognize the marriages of same-sex couples on the same terms and conditions as the marriages of opposite-sex couples, with all the accompanying rights and responsibilities.  Today,  India’s top court  legalized gay sex  in a landmark decision that partially struck down a 158-year-old colonial-era law.

After a decades-long legal battle, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India has diluted Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which was first enacted in 1860 and ranks gay sex alongside bestiality as a crime “against the order of nature.”  Reading out the judgment in a packed courtroom on Thursday, Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra said the law violated the right to equality enshrined in the constitution and was being used as a ‘weapon of discrimination’.   Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, drafted by British rulers in 1860, outlaws “carnal intercourse against the order of nature, with any man, woman or animal.” While offenders face prison sentence and a fine, prosecutions are rare.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

6^th Sept 2018.