ADILABAD: For Razia Begum, the Bharosa Centre is a godsend. A mother of three, she walked into the centre at Nirmal, unsure of what to expect, carrying months of arguments, silences and uncertainty. Three sessions later, she and her husband returned home together, “now living peacefully and looking after the children,” as she puts it.
Set up by the Nirmal police, the Bharosa Centre has been drawing families back from the brink of separation. Officers say 110 couples have reunited so far after counselling held at the centre, which functions under the district SHE Team headed by SP Dr Janaki Sharmila.
The SP describes the unit as a family counselling centre affiliated with the Bharosa Centre, where counsellors work with both families and elders to help couples find space to talk. Out of around 200 cases, she says 110 couples have reconciled, while 40 are still attending counselling sessions.
“We try to find an opportunity through counselling to help them come back together. We feel happy whenever a couple is reconciled. Unfortunately, a few do not reconcile. In such cases, we cannot do anything,” Dr Sharmila says.
She is known to keep a close watch on the daily operations, with staff available round the clock. Inside the small counselling rooms, trained counsellors, supported by an inspector and a woman sub-inspector, spend hours hearing out each side.
Many cases involve everyday disputes that spiralled: money, parenting, communication lapses, pressure from extended families. The team works through these slowly, often calling the couple back multiple times.
Navnitha and Muthyam, from Nirmal town, remember how their arguments had reached a point where she moved to her mother’s house. “We would fight over anything,” she says.
They attended two or three sessions at the centre. “We understood what we were doing to each other,” he adds. They went back home after the final meeting.
From Kadam mandal, Umamaheshwari and Naresh came close to choosing divorce just months after their wedding. Before taking a final step, they met Dr Sharmila, who directed them to the Bharosa Centre. What followed was several patient conversations. The couple says the process helped them pause, rethink and ultimately return to married life.
Counsellors say there is one constant at the end of each reunion: most couples had not wanted their marriages to end. They simply needed a place where someone would listen.