Amritsar's lesbian couple land in trouble

AMRITSAR: Despite Delhi high court's landmark ruling against the criminalization of homos*xuals, a lesbian couple landed in trouble when they were arrested by the police from Chintpurni in Himachal Pradesh on Friday.

Raju, a lesbian from Amritsar, who shocked her prudish society in 2004 by publicly declaring her lesbian friend, Mala, as her "wife", was arrested along with her new companion Poonam by Amritsar and Himachal Pradesh police.

The police said that Raju claimed that she was now "married" to Poonam after her first "wife" Mala had dumped Raju in 2007 for her male boyfriend, Sonu.

Interestingly, the Indian law (Hindu Marriage Act) does not have any provisions for marriage of LGBTs (Lesbians Gays Bis*xuals Trans-s*xuals). The couple however pointed at Poonam's wedding bangles as an evidence of their marriage.

The police said that the parents of both had approached police urging to trace their missing daughters. SHO police station Sadar Dinesh Kumar informed that Raju, 30, had eloped with Poonam, her neighbourer, along with her ten-year-old younger brother Happy and a cash of Rs 3.6 lakh to Chintpurani in Himachal Pradesh.

The hotel manager where the girls had stayed at Chintpurni got suspicious of their gestures and informed Amritsar and Dehra police following which Amritsar police reached there and took custody of both the girls and the boy and brought them back to Amritsar on Thursday. Police had also recovered about Rs 3.6 lakh from their possession.

Deputy commissioner of police AS Chahal said that since there was no complaint against the girls, police had not registered any case. The police, Chahal said, had sought the legal opinion and was considering to release the girls. "They are mature and they had gone to Chintpurani by their own consent. So I don't think there will be any case against them," he said.

Raju had been selling vegetables, driving auto rickshaw and doing other menial jobs in the city to run her "marital" life with Mala. The police said that Raju accused Mala of "attempting to poison her" after Raju discovered her "wife's extra-marital relation."