For them in Gurgaon, Valentine’s Day is a date with Love Commando

GURGAON: Savita and Karam (names changed), a newlywed couple, embrace as they watch the sunset from the cramped terrace of a shelter home, situated in a narrow bylane of the city. While many couples chose to go shopping or for a candlelight dinner on Valentine’s Day, they decided to celebrate the day of love with volunteers of Love Commando, a voluntary group which helped them tie the knot two years ago.Karam and Savita had fled from their homes after their parents objected to their four-year relationship.
Delhi-based NGO Love Commando has helped more than 500 couples to get married and settle down in the city in the last four years.
The group, a brainchild of Sanjoy Sachdev, offers couples to get in touch with them through a helpline and online forum. It also provides shelter to runaway couples.
“Intolerance to love is a major issue in Indian society. Many a time, it leads to honour killings. Nobody talks about the protection of lover’s rights in the country,” said Sachdev, who decided to form the group after he came across a case of a young man who was falsely accused of rape by the family of a girl whom he wanted to marry.
Love Commando manages seven secret shelter homes across Delhi/NCR whose exact locations are not revealed. “Though we are not scared of moral policing group, safety of couples is very important. So we don’t want to let people know the location of our centres,” said a volunteer.
Thousands of volunteers spread across the country work in secrecy. As soon as a couple asks for help online or through helpline, volunteers in the respective area get in touch with them. “The volunteers help the couple to come out of their village and bring them to Delhi. We have a team of lawyers, who help them get married as per the law,” said Sachdev. However, he makes sure that the couple is not underage.