KOCHI: On Saturday evening, Aluva resident Adhila Nazrin (22) made a social media appeal to ensure the safety of her lesbian partner Fathima Noora, fearing attacks from both of their families. In a relationship for five years, the two have now realised their parents are never going to accept their relationship.
They have also understood that the respective families are planning to forcibly marry them off to men once their undergraduate studies are over. The woes of the two women highlights the problems faced by the LGBTQ+ community despite a 2018 Supreme Court verdict having decriminalised homosexuality in the country.
"All we could think up was to run away from home and seek shelter at Vanaja Collective (an organisation engaged in supporting LGBTIQ+ and other marginalised groups) in Kozhikode," Adhila told The New Indian Express.
Currently, she has been lodged at a shelter home in Aluva with the help of the police inspector of Binanipuram station. Adhila and Noora met at a school in Saudi Arabia and continued their relationship even after returning to Kerala for higher studies in 2019. Their families had remained in the Gulf country.
On May 19, the duo decided to seek shelter at Vanaja Collective as their families began to "torture them physically and mentally".
After reaching the shelter home, they informed their families they were safe and wanted their families to accept the relationship. They also promised to keep the relationship a secret so their families would not have to feel ashamed, Adhila said.
She said that Noora's family members, belongs to a wealthy family had on the same day attempted to forcibly take her home. But the duo, with the help of volunteers, managed to inform the police about the issue.
"Later, my family members arrived and convinced us saying they would accept our relationship. They said they needed some time, and would visit a counsellor. My mother assured me she would convince Noora's family to let us live together. We fell into their trap and returned to my home in Aluva that night," Adhila said.
On May 24, Noora's family took her with them from Adhila’s home. "After that, I was beaten up by my family members," she said. Adhila said she is scared of her family members as they had tortured her physically and mentally.
They have also threatened to kill her, she said. The New Indian Express could not contact Noora, a Kozhikode resident, as her phone was switched off.
Meanwhile, an officer with the Binanipuram station said the police have done what they could. He said the police will provide whatever help Adhila needs in the issue. The intervention of members of Vanaja Collective had served to ensure the police reached out to Adhila.