UP: After divorcing their husbands, two women marry each other
Breaking gender barriers, two women from Uttar Pradesh, who were in love with each other for six years, divorced their husbands and got married to each other recently. The two women, aged 24 and 26, however, could not marry legally as there is no law for same-sex marriage in India's Constitution. Therefore, the marriage registrar refused to recognize their marriage. Here's their story.
Families forced the two women to marry other people
The duo first met in college over six years ago. Soon after falling in love, their parents got the wind of their relationship. Six months after leaving college, they were married off to different men. However, they couldn't forget each other, and divorced their husbands to be together. They fought a legal battle to stay with each other and won't claim their marital properties either.
Duo has been living as couple for some time now
One of the two women told media, "Our lawyer has told us that since Supreme Court has done away with section 377, we can stay together." She added that they have been living together as a couple for some time now. In September last year, the SC decriminalized homosexuality by reading down Section 377 of the IPC that penalized people for their sexual orientation.
'We don't even have an online proforma for same-sex marriage'
The duo, both Hamirpur residents, garlanded each other in a simple temple ceremony in Bundelkhand last week. However, marriage registrar RK Pal refused to register their symbolic marriage, citing absence of government order on same-sex marriage. Pal said, "How could I have registered the marriage when there's no such provision? Same-sex marriage isn't allowed. We don't even have an online proforma for it."
Lawyer says will challenge registrar's decision in court
Daya Shankar Tiwari, the women's lawyer, said he would challenge the registrar's decision in the court. Even after the SC's landmark judgement on Section 377, lesbian couples have found little or no acceptance from the society and their families force them to marry men. It has also lead to some depressing results. For instance, between 1995-2003, 22 young lesbians committed suicide in Kerala.
