As per report for 24 year old Surega, a Coimbatore-based transgender woman, getting to marry the man she loves was an easier task than obtaining a marriage certificate, which gives legal validity to their marriage. Meanwhile tired of running from pillar to post since she and Manikandan got married, the couple finally has approached the district collector with a plea to help them get their marriage registered.
Furthermore Surega and Manikandan (25) got married on february 14, 2018, at a mariamman temple in Coimbatore. she tells TNM “I don’t have parents and we had to convince his parents to agree to this wedding. They are good people and agreed to us getting married and Surega is a milk vendor, while Manikandan drives an auto rickshaw". Apparently like most couples, the duo went to the Registrar’s office inside the Collectorate campus in coimbatore immediately after their wedding to get it registered. “We both submitted all the documents needed for the official to register the marriage. But he didn’t. Instead, he gave us an objection certificate without stating any reason,” she explains.
Surega asks "All I wanted was to get our marriage registered so that we can be an example to other trans women to show that leading a normal life is possible. But it looks like it is not possible under the law. Aren’t we sufficient citizens to grant us that right?”. She said “Even to adopt a baby later on or to buy a property jointly, this document is the foundation. I want to lead a normal life like other married women, with dignity and respect. Why am I being denied this basic right?”. Moreover the couple, on monday, presented a petition to the coimbatore collector, requesting his intervention in the matter. TNM has reached out to the district collector of coimbatore, the article will be updated as and when TNM gets a response.
