It was a day of happiness for activist Irom Sharmila and her fiance Desmond Coutinho, devoid of any fanfare, at the Kodaikanal sub-registrar office. The families of both the bride and the groom were nowhere to be seen as the couple walked in to tie the knot. With a cream shawl draped around her head and accompanied by a few like-minded activists, Manipur’s iron lady took her first steps into a new phase of life. Seen along with the couple at the registrar office was filmmaker and CPI(ML) activist Divya Bharathi who is facing harassment for her documentary on manual scavenging.
The wedding of Irom Sharmila and Desmond Coutinho was formalised as three witnesses, all local residents of Kodaikanal, arrived and signed the papers. The couple exchanged garlands. The duo walked out of the registrar office after obtaining their marriage papers under the Special Marriage Act 1954.
It was on August 4 that an outfit Hindu Makkal Katchi filed a petition against Irom Sharmila’s proposed wedding with Desmond Coutinho. They alleged that peace will be ruined if the human rights activist settled down in Kodaikanal. Irom Sharmila was clueless as to why Hindu Makkal Katchi opposed her wedding. "I do not know why they are scared and why they say that our stay here will spoil the peace and tranquillity of the city. It concerns the private life of two persons. Whether married or not, we will continue to live together in the same house in Kodaikanal,” said Sharmila.
On July 13, both Irom and Desmond had to spend around two hours at the sub-registrar’s office after filing the marriage application. The sub-registrar Rajesh then said that he could not grant permission for their wedding under the Hindu Marriage Act, as they would need a 30-day notice period. So the permission was granted under the Special Marriages Act.
On August 9, Irom Sharmila, after attending a seminar on freedom of expression supporting documentary filmmaker Dhivya Bharathi, declared the latter as her bridesmaid. The human rights activist, who has been fighting all odds for more than 16 years through her fast unto death against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFPSA) in Manipur, came down to Kodaikanal a few months before.
A year before that, she ended her indefinite hunger strike and launched outfit People’s Resurgence and Justice Alliance (PRJA) to contest the elections against three-time Manipur Chief Minister and candidate Okram Ibobi Singh from the Thoubal assembly constituency. She managed to win only 90 votes, prompting her decision to quit politics.
