HatkeStory is back with part 2 of Love Has No Bars – Hatke Love Story of Spoorthy and Sindoor Kashyap. Do read it and if you haven’t read part 1, click on the link to read it.
Then we came to know about the Alternative Law Forum (ALF). It is an NGO that helps people fight for labor, domestic violence, gender, and sexuality rights. Sunil, Ramya, Darshana, Sumati helped me in approaching them. I disclosed the matter, and they requested to meet Spoorthy. They told me to bring her to their office to talk to her and take her statement in writing.
We waited for a while until Spoorthy convinced her parents that she was normal. We stayed in touch but never made any move. She got out of the house, and we went to meet ALF. During the meeting, they suggested that Spoorthy must finish her education and till then we stay apart. ALF lawyers were in contact with us, but Spoorthy had to pretend like everything was fine at her home. I can never forget the mental trauma she had to go through because of our love while staying in her home.
Meanwhile, I got our new house ready so that we could stay together after her exams. I collected her original documents from her house and replaced them with laminated color duplicates so her parents wouldn’t guess anything. Throughout the time, we tried to make our parents understand, but they wouldn’t give up.
19th April, we submitted a written statement to ALF lawyers. It stated that ‘Spoorthy would be leaving her house after her exams scheduled on 17th May 2017. The reason behind her departure was mental and physical harassment that she was facing in her home.’ Copies of this statement were supposed to go to the police once she was out of the house.
Much to our dismay, her parents suspected our moves and reacted according to it only. Her father accompanied her to the exam center, but she finished the paper in 45 minutes, and the exam invigilator allowed her to leave. She contacted me, and I told her to make sure her father was around and then take an auto and leave from there. I had already arranged a car for her. The person dropped her at the PG that I had booked in advance. We had opened a bank account in which I deposited some cash so she could stay there for the next ten days. My friends and office colleagues helped me out.
Spoorthy’s father and my parents showed up at my office around 4:00 PM and created a scene, and her dad asked me about her location. I said, ‘Uncle, I have no idea about her whereabouts. I haven’t spoken to her since February.’ He didn’t believe my statement and threatened me. I stayed adamant, but he continued to visit my house to search for his daughter. My answer never changed, no matter what he said to me.
Spoorthy and, we were in touch with each other through an extra phone that I had arranged for her. My friends and colleagues helped me out a lot. The police were interrogating me, and I had already told Spoorthy everything so her answers could match mine.
On 18th May in the morning, I contacted her father and asked him to meet me. But he had already lodged an FIR of kidnapping his daughter, and I was getting calls from them. My lawyer advised against it and told me not to meet them. Despite all the calls, I didn’t turn up, but her father had ties with politicians, so their case became stronger than mine. Vijayanagar police station kept calling, and her parents advised my parents to stay silent and not reveal anything about our relationship. They wanted to portray it as a kidnapping case.
The next day, two police officers, Spoorthy’s father, and uncle visited my house with a written statement in their hand. They ordered me to come to the police station. Otherwise, they would pick me from my house. This time, I couldn’t stop myself from confronting them. I went to the police station against my lawyer’s will. Everyone was agitated, and the entire interrogation continued for 3 hours. I didn’t change my answer, not even when they threatened to put me behind bars.
My lawyer came to my rescue and changed everything. He questioned the officer on what basis they were arresting me. He revealed that Spoorthy was safe with him at ALF, and she left because she didn’t want to stay with her family. Because they were physically and mentally harassing her. So she wanted to be alone and away from the house. Police registered their statement and allowed me to leave.
Our lawyer advised us to maintain distance at least for one year. We couldn’t agree to it, so we started living together when the case was shut. ALF was a big helping hand, and we couldn’t have done it without their help. I’m genuinely grateful to them.
Love Has No Bars
We resided in hotels for the next few days as it wasn’t safe for us to live together in our home. We used to go to Bangalore to spend our weekends. Later, Spoorthy got a job at Go.zefo. And we started living together in our house. However, we feared the consequences as we had zero support from our family and community. It went well for a while, and we began to settle down with our life. I knew that danger was still looming on my head, and they could do anything, but I cared less and continued living with Spoorthy.
Then, my office head sent me a threatening letter that said ‘They will break my hands & legs and make my life miserable. I wouldn’t be able to stand on my feet again.’ I ignored it completely.
Later, I received a call from Mahila Sahayavani, and they said that someone filed a complaint against me for kidnapping someone’s daughter. I revealed the truth and said that she didn’t want to be with her parents and that’s why she left her house. However, my statement didn’t stop their calls, so I stopped responding to them.
A few days later, newspaper agencies began to approach me. They said they would make it public and tarnish my family’s reputation if I didn’t come to their forum to give my statement. I took no action, but I was worried about our future.
On 5th July, I came to know that our story was published on the front page of Bangalore Mirror with the headline ‘All hell breaks loose as two women wed in Koramangala.’ We were shocked beyond recovery because they had twisted the facts to make it favorable for them. From there, Local Kannada News ‘PUBLIC TV’ picked up the story and downloaded our pictures from Facebook. They also added their views in it that completely portrayed us in a negative light.
Their action favored us because members of the LGBT community started contacting us. We have been trying to reach them for so long, but they didn’t turn up, and that news got us their support. They allowed us to stay in their house. Spoorthy lost her job due to this chaos. We filed a case against the newspaper, but they published an apology in their newspaper in return. We dropped the matter and began to search for a new house for us. We got it in two days and shifted our belongings to our new house.
Our families haven’t accepted us from that day to now, and we never turned our back towards them. Whenever we meet anyone, I introduce her as my life partner, and she does the same. Love is no crime, so I’d like to live with my head held high in the air. Spoorthy is my life partner, and I love her a lot. She is an inseparable part of my life, and I hold no regret for whatever I did. I’m proud of my choice.
I believe that people need to stand up for themselves. It’s not only about me and you or the LGBT community. It is for the whole of humanity. You have the right to choose. You can make your own decisions. Do what pleases you because you are the only one who knows more than others about yourself. Nobody can help you, so learn to help yourself.
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