Mathura: Two women wish to live together as married couple, seek police help

One of the women is a divorcee while another is a student. They are from two different villages of Mathura but are from the same caste.

Two women have approached the police in Mathura and expressed their wish to live together as a married couple, authorities said on Saturday, the latest instance of same-sex love in a country that criminalises such relationships.

The two women told police at Raya in Mathura that they became friends and now wanted to get married but were facing hostilities from both families, who have refused to accept the relationship, sources said.

“I have been beaten by my family members for my relations. We will marry each other and if stopped we will commit suicide,” one of the woman told police.

The station officers called the families but all relatives were opposed to the relationship, said Raya police station in-charge Anil Kumar. The women told police they belonged to different villages but were of the same caste.

This comes days after two women were pulled apart by their families after the couple ran away from home to live together. One of the women was a Delhi University student while the other was from Bharatpur.

Both settled down together in Jaipur for two years but were found by police, who were investigating abduction complaints filed by both families. The girls are now battling family pressure to stay together.

Such instances of same-sex love are common in India but often shrouded in secrecy and shame because of social taboo. Last year, two Mumbai women attempted suicide after their parents forbade the relationship. One of them died.

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