Mansi lived with Gopal’s family till he attained marriageable age

RAJKOT: The marriage of Gopal Chavda and Mansi Godavari in Gondal town on March 6 was a special one in many ways. It’s a case of live-in relationship where Mansi lived at his house waiting for him to attain the legally marriageable age.

The couple stayed in a live-in for three years till Gopal turned 21 despite stiff opposition by Mansi’s parents. They were opposed to their relationship as Gopal is from a different caste. Interestingly, Gopal’s father had no qualms accepting Mansi as his daughter-in-law. In fact, Mansi stayed with Gopal’s family for three years, waiting for him to turn 21 so that they could tie the knot.

Three years ago, Gopal and Mansi fled from their houses. While Mansi’s family was bitterly opposed, Gopal’s father Bipin Chavda, a conductor in GSRTC, welcomed them with open arms. Mansi’s family members also gave an application to the police after they fled. When police approached Mansi, she refused to go back to her parents house expressing fear that they would get her married to someone else. Finally, she was sent to Junagadh’s Shishu Mangal Trust run by a non-governmental organization.

Talking to TOI, Gopal said, “Mansi didn’t wanted to stay with her parents, so we approached the police. They advised us to take a legal recourse from court. The court allowed us to sign an agreement of live-in relationship. So, we signed an agreement on stamp paper and started living with my parents.”

Gopal said they had no plans of live-in relationship, but it was to avoid Mansi’s family’s intervention and police insistence to send her to Junagadh home as per the court order.

Gopal’s father said, “I take care of Mansi like my daughter. She wanted to study so I made all arrangements to help her complete her graduation.”

However, Mansi’s family has still not accepted this relation and they did not attend the marriage function. Gopal’s extended family member Kanu Bhalgamadia, who lives in Morbi , performed the ‘kanyadan’ ritual.

Gopal’s uncle Pramodbhai said, “We are never against a love marriage or intercaste marriage, but we advised them to get married only after reaching the legal age.”

Gopal works in an auto parts manufacturing company, while Mansi runs a beauty parlour.

