For Sneha Patel, a 19-year-old college-going girl, everything is fair in love. Even if it means signing a contract marriage with her minor boyfriend’s elder brother for the time being, an arrangement that will ultimately allow her to marry the man she loves two years later.
It may be a rare case but Sneha has done it. As her boyfriend, 19-year-old Yash Kishan Parmar, will take another two years to reach the official marriageable age, Sneha had to find a way out that would enable her to be with Yash now.
That led to Sneha proposing to Yash’s elder brother Dharmesh and tying with him the nuptial knot that will be in force for two years.
A resident of Asarwa, Sneha eloped with Yash in July after her mother opposed the relationship on the grounds of caste differences. The duo went to Mount Abu, from where though Yash was regularly in touch with his parents, Sneha kept aloof.
But soon the two realised that they would have to remain in hiding for two years before they could officially marry each other. That two years also meant that they would have to break their studies. At that point the idea dawned on Sneha who made a proposal to Dharmesh. Dharmesh, 23, was not married.
‘‘Sneha requested Dharmesh to marry her and also sign a contract stating that he will divorce her when Yash becomes an adult,’’ says Inspector H Rajput of Shahibaug Police Station. Dharmesh’s parents accepted the idea. They then arranged for the marriage of Sneha and Dharmesh at a temple in Vasna.
According to the arrangement, Dharmesh treats Sneha as his younger brother’s wife. He will sign a divorce paper when Yash turns 21, thereby allowing Yash and Sneha live as husband and wife under the law.
According to investigating officials, Sneha told them that she had not done anything illegal by marrying Dharmesh who is 23. She produced her wedding photographs before the police.
Sneha’s mother Kailash who had lodged an abduction complaint with the police says that she has strained her ties with her daughter. ‘‘I was surprised to see her married. I told her that she was in love with Yash not Dharmesh. But she told me that she had found a way out to live with Yash,’’ Kailash said.
Now, a happy Sneha does everything comfortably— from attending her college lectures to going out for movies and social functions with Yash. She, however, is not ready to comment on her marriage with Dharmesh and affair with Yash.
Her relatives— parents of Yash with whom she stays— say: ‘‘She is our daughter-in-law and nobody has the right to interfere in our family matters.’’
Meanwhile, Inspector Rajput admitted ‘‘it as a rare case, but both Sneha and Dharmesh are adults so we cannot interfere in their decision.’’