Registrar who forced disabled bride to come to second floor suspended

The registrar of marriage in Khar, Mumbai has been suspended for forcing a disabled woman to come to the office on the second floor, which has no lift. The suspension follows a complaint made by the woman on social media, which was acknowledged by the deputy chief minister. The woman has thanked the government for the action taken, but has also highlighted the need for government buildings to be accessible to people with disabilities.

The state government on Wednesday suspended the registrar of marriage for forcing a disabled woman to come to the second floor of the office building in Khar, which has no lift, to complete the formalities. During the suspension period, which will be in effect till further order, the registrar, Arun Ghodekar, would have to report at the office in Chandrapur.

Registrar who forced disabled bride to come to second floor suspended

The action came a week after deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis took cognisance of the complaint put out by Virali Modi on a social media platform and assured her of ‘appropriate action’.

Virali Modi, an activist, got married to Kshitij Nayak on October 16 at Khar. As the office is on the second floor and there is no lift, her relatives requested Ghodekar to make arrangements for Modi to give a thumb impression and have her photo taken downstairs. But Ghodekar turned down their request forcing the relatives to lift her with a wheelchair all the way to the second floor.

Two days later, on October 18, Modi wrote a post on X, formerly Twitter, and complained about the incident. “PLEASE RT! I am disabled and I got married at the Registrar’s Office at Khar Mumbai on 16/10/23. The office was on the 2nd floor WITHOUT a lift. They wouldn’t come downstairs for the signatures and I had to be carried up two flights of stairs to get married.”

An order issued by the state government on Wednesday said, “It is the duty of government officers to respond and provide the service to the weaker sections. As per rules it is mandatory for the government officer to visit the place which is at a reasonable distance to complete the process of marriage registration. The people close to Virali Modi informed the marriage registrar office that she was disabled and as there is no lift in the building, requested the officer, Arun Ghodekar, to come downstairs to register the marriage. But Ghodekar forced them to come to the second floor. For the violation of the service rules and indecent behaviour, Arun Ghodekar will be under suspension till further order.”

When contacted, Modi thanked the state government and Fadnavis for the action but raised the need for corrective measures to make the government buildings accessible to people with disability.

“Every action has a reaction, and one will have to face the consequences for their deed. It is fine the state has suspended that officer. But the bigger issue which needs to be addressed is the accessibility of government buildings to disabled persons and senior citizens. Why are our government buildings not accessible even now? There is a law in place for it,” she said.