Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Short-stay-home inmate gets married

Thiruvananthapuram: It was a wedding ceremony with a difference. Minus the frills, pomp and splendour, it was nevertheless a poignant moment for Geetha, an inmate of a short stay home at Vattiyoorkavu set up by the Kerala Women’s Commission, who got married to Anil, an autorickshaw driver, on Thursday.

In a warm gesture, various NGOs and the inmates of the short stay home for destitute women pooled their savings to offer a wedding gift to the couple. The Thiruvananthapuram District Sarvodaya Mandalam contributed Rs.10,000 to the fund.

Labour Minister P.K. Gurudasan, who turned up to witness the simple ceremony, handed over the amount to the newly married couple in the presence of mandalam president G.Sadanandan and Women’s Commission Chairperson D.Sreedevi.

Poet and social activist Sugathakumari presented the couple with Rs.1,000 while M.Kamalam gifted the bride with a wedding sari.

Various organisations and individuals contributed a total of Rs.58,000 to the couple. The Minister handed over the bank passbook to the couple.

Women’s Commission members T.Devi, Meenakshi Thampan; secretary of Gandhi Smaraka Nidhi V.Ramdas; Sarvodaya Mandalam secretary J.M. Rahim; superintendent of the short stay home Mini Jose; inmates and local people were present to bless the couple. The inmates distributed ‘payasam’ to the assembled people.

It was almost a year back that Geetha’s mother Chandrika sought refuge at the short stay home to escape the wrath of her husband, a chronic alcoholic. Using her meagre earnings as a domestic help, she ensured that her daughter completed the SSLC.

Moved by her mother’s plight, Geetha decided to wind up her education even though she secured a first class in the examination.

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