Runaway teenagers in Bihar tell court they are lesbians in love

When two teenage girls, students of Class VIII and IX, went missing about three months ago in Bagaha, Bihar, a case of kidnapping was lodged.

However, it turns out that these two girls had actually eloped and were apparently married in a temple and living together, according to a report in The Telegraph . The two schoolgirls were presented in an open court in Bagaha on Monday and said that they were in a relationship and wished to live together as a couple, the report further adds.

The case of the two girls, whose names have been withheld as they are minors, is  possibly the first open admission of lesbian relationship in Bihar. Add to that the fact they are essentially from a rural part of the state is what makes this case so unusual.

However, the court results weren’t very positive as one of them had been arrested on charges of kidnapping the other. The class VIII student was handed over to her parents while the other girl was sent to jail on charges of kidnapping. If proven guilty, the older girl can get a maximum sentence of 10 years for kidnapping. Investigating officer Raj Kishore told Telegraph that since the younger girl was a minor, a kidnapping case under Section 364A was lodged and victim’s statement has been recorded under Section 164 of CrPC.

This is not the first case of lesbian couples that have claimed to be married. The first was the 2011 case of lesbians Beena and Savita who eloped fearing honour killing and their marriage was considered legal. Back then, a Gurgaon court had effectively recognized a marriage between two women which was touted to be India’s fist same-sex marriage. Their case grabbed headlines when the two were given police protection after they said that they were married to each other and feared for their lives.

While the outcome of the case is yet to be decided, it will be interesting to see the court’s response to the same sex relationship.