Rajkot girl goes on fast for missing lady love

It seems to be the season of fasts and hunger strikes across the country. A 26-year-old girl having an affair with another girl has gone on an indefinite hunger strike in Rajkot to demand the release of her partner. Naseem, who began her hunger strike on Monday at Hospital Chowk near BR Ambedkar’s statue in Rajkot city, alleges that her partner, Kajal, is being held captive by her parents. She has threatened to fast unto death unless her partner, who has allegedly been snatched away from her, is released.

The hunger strike has become a hot topic of gossip in Rajkot city which is five hours’ drive from Ahmedabad. The two girls were separated only recently after much drama involving the parents of both the girls and a couple of police cases.

Kajal is apparently missing and Naseem, after doing everything she could to find here whereabouts, has undertaken a hunger strike to get her back. She has also threatened the district authorities with self-immolation unless she sees Kajal.

Rajkot police commissioner Geetha Johri, however, says that Kajal has been has been traced to her grandparents’ house in a village in Mehsana district. Johri said a team of police officials had been sent to record her statement.

“As far as the law is concerned, they can live together as both are adults,” Johri told DNA. “But we have to take the statement of Kajal, who has been traced to her grandfather’s house in a Mehsana village. If she says she has been confined forcibly, and wants to live with Naseem we will take appropriate action.”

She added that the police were keeping watch on Naseem and, if her condition deteriorates, the police will admit her to the hospital.  Since the two girls belong to different communities, there were worries that their relationship could turn into a communal issue. Naseem’s lawyer, Samir Chhaya, alleged that members of Bajrang Dal had wanted to turn the whole thing into a Hindu-Muslim issue.

“However, the police intervened in time and the activists were driven away from the place where Naseem is on fast. In fact, it’s only Kajal’s parents who are averse to the relationship. Naseem’s family is not making much noise,” said Chhaya.

The affair between the two girls began seven years back on the night of December 31 when they met at a New Year’s party at a resort in Rajkot. They liked each other’s dancing skills and, from then on, their liking for each other continued to grow.

If it were not for the fact that they belong to the same sex, their tale would have been like any other love story about a boy and a girl.

After their first encounter on the dance floor, their relationship continued to grow and they became very close over the years. But they were able to keep their affair hidden from the world for seven years. Kajal's parents were the first to have doubts about their daughter.

Some local people said that when the parents discovered that their daughter was in love with another girl, it was something of a calamity for the whole family. However, their concern subsided somewhat when Kajal started going to college.

It was, however, difficult to keep the two girls apart for long. They began meeting again and their love grew stronger. Their problems started when Kajal's family decided to marry her off and got her engaged to a Mehsana-based youth. Both Naseem and Kajal were against this development and, on March 20 this year, Kajal left her home to live with Naseem.  Her parents, however, lodged a complaint with the Gandhidham police stating that her daughter had gone missing. The police found the two girls and put them both in lock-up. From then on, their relationship has been a story of police complaints and cross-complaints.