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Two days after their wedding, a couple in Karnataka’s Koppal district has been separated by the man’s family as his partner is a transgender woman. Now, they’re being threatened with Section 377.
Radhika and Shivakumar got married in her house in the Sadashivanagar area of Koppal town on 21 June. The ceremony was performed by members of Radhika’s transgender family.
Both belong to the Lambani community.
On Thursday morning, Shivakumar’s relatives arrived at the house and took him to the Koppal Town police station.
Along with her family of fellow transgender women, Radhika too went to the police station. She wrote a complaint to the police seeking help. “I wrote that Shivakumar’s family was trying to forcibly separate a man and woman who are married,” Radhika said.
Radhika was born male and underwent a sex-change surgery over a year ago. Shortly after that, she met Shivakumar at the Koppal railway station where he is a tea seller. She used to go there to collect money.
Radhika says she and Shivakumar discussed children before they made their decision.
Asked whether they would file a case, Vandana, a member of Radhika’s family, says, “Only if the police are ready to speak to us can we think of filing a case. They aren’t accepting our complaint. Instead they are threatening to book a case against us under Section 377.”
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