Odisha couple who had eloped to Gujarat gets married at quarantine centre

As their family members can’t enter the quarantine centre, two teachers who are in-charge of the quarantine centre acted as parents of the bride and groom.

A a time when Covid-19 has caused massive upheaval across the world, a young couple in Odisha got married in the quarantine centre. The two had ran away from their respective homes in January this year.

The newly-weds at the quarantine centre in Odisha. (HT Photo)

On Sunday, Saurabh Das, a 19-year-old youth of Sagada village in Puri district, married his girlfriend Pinkyrani Das in a quarantine centre of the same village at the end of 14 days of quarantine. Saurabh had eloped with Pinkyrani in January this year to Ahmedabad where the two lived as a couple. However, the girl’s family did not lodge any FIR against the boy’s family.

As the plastic factory where Saurabh worked in Ahmedabad shut during lockdown, the two were finding it difficult to come back. After much difficulty, the couple landed in Sagada village and were quickly taken to the quarantine centre.

“The two had checked into the quarantine centre on May 10 after returning from Ahmedabad, where Saurabh worked in a plastic factory. Though both showed symptoms of Covid-19, their swab tests came negative. As the girl had become pregnant, we decided to get them married off. They got married on May 24 after completing 14 days of institutional quarantine at Sagada village,” said Nimapara Block Development Officer Manoj Behera.

Meanwhile, 76 people tested positive for Covid-19 in Odisha on Wednesday, taking the number of cases to 1,593, a health department official said.

Of the fresh cases, 74 people returned to Odisha from other states like Gujarat, West Bengal, Maharastra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand, and were lodged at different quarantine centres.