A Kerala couple who went viral earlier in the year for managing to secretly live together for ten years has finally got married. Rahman, who hit the headlines for keeping his lover Sajitha hidden in a single room in his family house for 10 years without anyone¡¯s knowledge, finally married her legally at Nenmara on Wednesday.
In a non-religious ceremony, they entered into wedlock under the Special Marriage Act at a local sub-registrar office.?Clad in a simple cotton salwar, Sajitha seemed happy and secure while signing the marriage documents along with Rahman, who was spotted in a traditional mundu (dhoti) and shirt.
Local MLA K Babu received the newlyweds along with the wife, Sajitha¡¯s parents, Velayudhan and Santha at the Registrar¡¯s office with a bouquet. Rahman¡¯s relatives including his parents who were against this union, were absent at the function.
The couple later distributed sweets and thanked everyone who supported them to get married."We wish to live a happy and peaceful life from now onwards," Rahman said.
On June 7, 2021, truck driver Basheer spotted his brother Rahman riding a motorcycle in Nenmara town, around 30 kilometres from Palakkad. Rahman¡¯s family hadn¡¯t seen him since March 10, so Basheer followed him. He also decided to inform the authorities.
Police nabbed Rahman, a house painter, who took them to his rented residence at a nearby locality called Vithanassery. There the authorities found a woman, who said she was the 35-year-old¡¯s wife.?On questioning her, they learnt that she was Sajitha, who had been missing for 11 years from the same police station limits.
Officials were, however, suspicious of Rahman¡¯s story that Sajitha lived with him in his room for more than a decade, barely 100 metres away from her family¡¯s home. Even Rahman¡¯s parents living in the same residence with him were clueless.
Back in February 2010, Sajitha who is her parent's?one of the three daughters,?allegedly went to a relative¡¯s house and did not return. A complaint was filed but the police could not trace her. The family, eventually, gave up hope of ever finding her. The village too had almost forgotten her. ¡°Many thought she had eloped with someone to Tamil Nadu,¡± said a police officer.
However, according to Rahman and Sajitha, she was hiding in the room, about a hundred metres away, while the police were searching all over. She was inside a small house consisting of three rooms and a kitchen.
Additionally, no bathroom was attached to the room, they said, adding that the woman reportedly used to get out of the room at night through its window, which was found closed during day time.
The Kerala State Women¡¯s Commission had even registered a case against Rahman saying that keeping a woman in captivity was against law.According to the police, the woman was looked after by the man during her 10-year-long stay in a room at his house in Karakkattuparamb.