But there is a police station, about 25 kilometres from Lucknow, where lovers are welcomed, garlanded and married off with much fanfare.
Whenever couples are apprehended or surrender, the policemen prefer to ensure marriage of the couple rather than register a case of kidnapping, of course after ascertaining the facts. Besides, the police also make sure that couples get married in accordance with their religious traditions.
Ask Sonu and Saraswati. They will tell you how cooperative the policemen of the Malihabad police station are. “We had eloped as we had decided to live together though our families were vehemently opposed to our relationship,” Sonu told Deccan Herald.
An application alleging kidnapping was lodged by Saraswati’s family and raids were conducted to apprehended them. The couple was later nabbed and brought to the police station.
Initially the police tried to persuade the family members to agree to their marriage but they remained adamant. Finally, the lovers were asked to bring their age certificates. When it was ensured that they were adults, they were married at the police station itself.
A beautiful ‘pandal’ was erected and the marriage was conducted amidst chanting of Vedic mantras and raining flower petals. There were also gifts from the policemen.
Similarly Anil and Archana and Rakesh and Babli had also been married, said the policemen of Malihabad police station. “The law provides adults the right to live together...if two adult people love each other and decide to marry, there is nothing wrong in it,” SHO Ramesh Sharma said.
Sharma said that the police would first try to persuade the families and proceed for getting the couple married only when their efforts fail.
In a state where lovers are often treated with contempt and at times killed by their families, the gesture of the police is certainly more than welcome.
