Two youths, who were assigned female at birth, have caused a stir at a Hajipur police station in Vaishali district of Bihar after claiming they had ‘married’ each other. One of them is a 15-year-old minor, while the older of the two is 27-year-old, according to a Hindustan Times report. They had been listed as ‘missing’ by police on April 10, 2017, but returned unexpectedly on May 8 with the news of their marriage.
According to the HT report, the couple, natives of a village in Bidupur block of Vaishali, had said that they were in a relationship for the past two years, and had arranged for ₹45,000, before eloping to Delhi on April 1. The adult had been working with a consultancy firm in Patna, and the minor had only recently cleared her matriculation exams when they made the decision to leave their village.
While in Delhi, the couple had learnt about doctors in Mumbai whom the 27-year-old could approach for a sex-reassignment surgery. However, they ran into a roadblock soon after. A police officer told the paper that the doctor they contacted asked the adult to produce documents of parental consent and ₹11 lakh for the surgery.
The parents of the couple had first searched for them on their own and lodged a missing case only on April 10. The SHO of Bidupur police station took custody of the couple after their return and tried to return them to their parents. However, when they insisted on living together, the police produced them before a local court.
The court has ordered the adult to be sent to jail on charges of ‘luring a minor to marry and live as wife after same-sex marriage’, according to the HT report. The minor has been sent to a short stay home. The court has also ordered their medical examination.
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