“I knew my parents would oppose the idea of marrying someone from another caste, but I did not know that they would go to any extent to keep him away from me,” says 19-year-old Anjana, who had live-streamed her wedding to her then-partner Kiran Kumar on Facebook.
Despite strong opposition from Anjana’s family, the two were determined to live together.
Anjana’s father, Thimmaraju, a JD(S) leader in Tumakuru district’s Madhugiri, was dead set on separating her from Kiran, apparently, because he belonged to the Adivasi community.
Undeterred by the impediments posed by her father, Anjana, a second-year B.Com student, and Kiran, a businessman, tied the knot at a temple in North Bengaluru’s Hesarghatta on Friday.
Anjana and Kiran Kumar first met in Madhugiri in 2016 and soon became friends. The friendship, which began through WhatsApp messages, soon became serious and Kiran expressed his love for Anjana. The two stayed together for three years before they decided to get married.
A few days before the wedding, Anjana and Kiran decided to inform their respective parents about their decision to get married and get their approval.
“I knew my father would not approve of my relationship but I thought he would eventually agree when he realised how much we loved each other. He was indignant when he found out that Kiran belongs to the ST community. Things went terribly wrong after that,” recalls Anjana, adding, “My father threatened to file a police complaint against Kiran and sent him away. He then dragged me to the police station and forced me to file a false complaint against him,” she said.
Anjana alleges that her father Thippeswamy forced her to sign on a complaint, which she was not allowed to read at the Madhugiri Police Station.
“He wanted me to implicate Kiran for statutory rape but I did not want to do that. So, we decided to come to Bengaluru,” Anjana says.
A day after she left home, Anjana’s father filed a complaint of abduction against Kiran and the police were on the lookout for the couple.
“We decided to get married and stream it on Facebook to prove that no one was forcing me to get married to Kiran. I love him and want to be with him. If my father or the police try to break us apart or threaten to harm us in any way, we will kill ourselves,” Anjana says.
With the video as evidence, the police are now planning to shut the case registered against Kiran. “We will take the girl’s statement and since she is not a minor, the abduction charge does not stand,” the police said.
Despite this, Anjana and Kiran fear that the police might separate them and the couple has decided to stay low until they settle down.