Same sex couple ties knot at Koderma temple, says they plan to legalise marriage

Although the Centre is against legalising same-sex marriage and says it is “against Indian culture”, two women, aged 24 and 20, from Jharkhand’s Koderma district, said they tied the nuptial knot at a temple on November 8 this year and are aspiring to legalise their marriage someday.
Cousins and in a relationship for the last five years, the women left home a few days before getting married and informed their families later that they have moved to Delhi. Their families were against the relationship.
A few days later, however, the couple was spotted at Chandwara block, barely 6 km from their house. A ruckus was created when the family members of the duo reached the rented accommodation where they put up, leading police to rush to the spot. With no formal complaint and the fact that the women were both adults, police said they cannot intervene.
The incident, however, attracted the local media and when mediapersons started flooding their home, the two decided to leave the area and move to an undisclosed location. When TOI asked the landlady, Renu Kumari, about their whereabouts, she denied having any information.
Before moving out, the couple, residents of Azad Mohalla under Telaiya police station, told TOI, “We are being threatened of dire consequences by our families, but we don’t care. We are in a relationship for the last five years. We got married at a temple and will soon try for a court marriage.”
While the 24-year-old woman stayed with her parents, the 20-year-old woman had lost her parents at an early age and was living with her aunt before running away from the home.
To eke out a living, the younger woman took private tuition classes, while the elder woman, a graduate in arts, worked at a shopping mall in Koderma before the lockdown.