Patna/Bagaha (West Champaran), Aug. 3: Two teenaged schoolgirls today told an open court in Bagaha that they were engaged in a lesbian relationship and wanted to live together as a couple.
The admission, possibly the first such in Bihar, came during a deposition by the girls, one of whom had been arrested on charges of kidnapping the other. The teenagers, said to be students of Class VIII and IX, had gone missing about three months ago.
West Champaran superintendent of police Shafi-ul-Haq said the father of the Class VIII student had lodged a case of kidnapping against the older girl in May this year at the Bagaha Town police station. The court today handed over the Class VIII student to her parents while the other girl, said to be a resident of Padrauna, the district headquarters of Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh just across the Bihar border, was sent to jail on charges of kidnapping. The Telegraph is withholding the names of the two girls since they are minors.
A large crowd of lawyers, litigants and court employees had assembled in the court of additional chief judicial magistrate (in-charge) R.K. Singh when the girls, clad in jeans and T-shirts, were escorted in by the police.
The girls admitted their lesbian relationship and told the court they got married at a temple in Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, about 70km from Padrauna. They also expressed their desire to "live together as husband and wife". "We can't live without each other," the Class IX student accused of kidnapping told the court.
The girls were staying in a rented house at Kushinagar district, ever since they disappeared from Ratanmala village in adjacent West Champaran, around 250km northwest of Patna in May. A police team headed by investigating officer Raj Kishore carried out raids at suspected hideouts of the Padrauna girl but she could not be arrested. On Saturday, the police found both the girls moving around near Gautam Buddha Setu on the border of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and subsequently brought them to Bagaha on Sunday.
Police investigations revealed the two girls developed a relationship when the older girl had come to stay at her maternal uncle's house in Ratanmala village three months ago. "The girl had come to attend a function at her relative's house at Ratanmala village in Bagaha. Five days later, both the girls disappeared from the house under mysterious circumstances," an officer said.
Investigating officer Kishore said since the girl was a minor, a kidnapping case under Section 364A was lodged. "The parents of both the kidnapped girl and the alleged kidnapper were present in the court at the time of their deposition. The victim's statement has been recorded under Section 164 of CrPC," the investigating officer told The Telegraph over phone.
If proved guilty of kidnapping, the older girl can get a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Bagaha SP Haq said the police recovered several cellphones and 24 SIM cards from the possession of the two girls. "The location of the girls was finally traced through surveillance of their cellphones. They frequently shifted their locations, which had made the task of the police more difficult," he added.
Additional public prosecutor, Bagaha, Ratendra Nath Tiwary, said: "The Supreme Court has opined lesbian marriage is justified. However, the central government is still silent on the issue and has not yet made requisite amendments in the Indian Penal Code."
He said the accused girl would be sent to a remand home (reforms centre) in case she turns out to be a minor after verification of her age.
