The nationwide lockdown in the country has brought almost all activities to a screeching halt, one of them being weddings. Many couples across the country, who had had the plans of getting married had to delay their weddings indefinitely as the scourge of coronavirus looms over India.
However, while many deferred their marriages to a later date, there are some couples who braved the odds and got themselves hitched even as the coronavirus pandemic rages unabated. One such couple is from Haryana which was fortunate to have tied the knot amidst lockdown. According to the reports, a district magistrate in Rohtak came to the rescue of the couple and opened its doors on the night of April 13 to solemnise the wedding of a local youngster with a Mexican girl under the Special Marriage Act after the couple faced difficulties in marrying due to the lockdown imposed to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Haryana boy’s Mexican love story
Niranjan Kashyap, a resident of Rohtak, Haryana met a Mexican girl online on a language learning app and fell head over heel in love with her. The couple met on the online app in 2017 and got engaged the next year. As per Niranjan, he had applied to get married to her Mexican partner, Dana Joheri Oliveros Cruise, under the Special Marriage Act on February 17.
“We met on a language learning app. In 2017, she came to India on my birthday. Then this February 11, Dana and her mother came to India for the wedding. On February 17, we applied for marriage under the Special Marriage Act which has a 30-day notice,” Kashyap said.
He further added that the notice was to end on March 18 but by then the lockdown began and they could not get married. He subsequently submitted an application to the district collector after which his wedding was solemnised.
Nirajan said that Dana was supposed to leave for Mexico on March 24 but with lockdown underway and international travel suspended, she had rescheduled her flight to May 5.
Wedding during lockdown
Dana said, “I came to India to meet him in 2017. We later got engaged in December 2018 and I returned to Mexico. I spent two years in Mexico. Due to the lockdown, we couldn’t marry. The deputy commissioner helped us in our marriage.”
The advocate who assisted the couple in getting married narrated how things went: “Both came to us to get married. Since the girl was from Mexico, they can marry under the Special Marriage Act. Later, we approached the district magistrate and he sent requests to the Mexican embassy and other offices for a no-objection certificate. After the NOC was obtained, the district magistrate opened the court and performed the wedding at 8 pm on April 13.”
