Shirdi

Reshma Mokenwar

Mumbai Mirror

Nanded

Hadiya

Supreme Court

A 27-year-old Mumbaikar is up against a rigid set of social and cultural norms that have wrenched her away from her girlfriend., a resident of Bhandup, met her cousin Preethi Sarkila in Telangana last year, and fell in love with her. Last month, Mokenwar and Sarkila, 20, eloped to Shirdi in the hope of the beginning a new life. The couple worked at a restaurant in Shirdi and stayed at a lodge. About ten days ago, though, the Telangana police, acting on a missing person complaint registered by Sarkila’s parents, traced them to Shirdi.Speaking toover the phone, Mokenwar claims that the cops took her and Sarkila to Boath, in Adilabad, in Telangana, where the complaint was filed. “Our family made false promises that they will let us go and live on our own,” said Mokenwar. “But the moment we stepped out of the police station, they separated us and sent us off in different cars.” Mokenwar is at present under the custody of her parents in, while Sarkila lives with her parents in Telangana. Mokenwar said that she and Sarkila were in love and wanted to live with each other and on their own. She claimed that she and Sarkila had even slashed their wrists outside the police station to convince their parents to let them stay together. “We will not disturb our families. All we are asking is freedom to live the way we want to live.” Mokenwar, a divorcee who was married off while still a minor, has been staying in Mumbai for over a decade, and worked in a pharmacy until last year.Tirupati Mokenwar, the girls’ uncle, told Mirror that he cannot allow the two girls to stay together. “This is not our culture, and we will not let this happen in our family. We are looking for a right match for Priti, and plan to get her married off in the next two months.”Inspector Jayaram Nayak of the Boath police station, in Telangana, said that the girls’ parents filed missing complaints since they had left their homes without informing their parents. “Both girls have given us statements that they left their parents’ homes since they wanted to work and live on their own.”Mokenwar said that she finds it difficult to understand why anyone would have an objection to their relationship. “What is wrong in it? We met during family functions and got attracted to each other. It is natural. Why can’t the world just accept it?”Meena Seshu, founder of Sampada Grameen Mahila Sanstha, told Mirror that both the girls were adults and had a right to live their life the way they wanted to. “It doesn’t matter if the women are lesbian or not. If two adults want to stay together, they should be allowed to do that under the rights provided by the Constitution. This is why we women should fight the ruling given in thecase.” Hadiya, who first converted to Islam and later married a Muslim, recently had her marriage annulled by the Kerala High Court, after her father alleged that she had been brainwashed. Theis currently hearing her case.