Adhila Nasarin and Fathima Noora. (Image credit: Vowtape by Ashiq Rahim/Instagram)
A lesbian couple from Kerala, who petitioned the high court for the right to stay together, and won, recently exchanged rings at a seaside ceremony.
Adhila Nasarin and Fathima Noora, who have known each other since they were in school, shared photos of the ceremony on their social media handles.
They were dressed in embellished lehengas, wore traditional jewellery and held a cake made in the colour of the Pride Flag.
The couple exchanged garlands and professed their love for each other. "Congrats on being stuck with me forever," Nasarin wrote on Instagram.
"Achievement unlocked : together forever," her partner said.
Marriages between same-sex couples are not legally recognised in India yet, even though the provision criminalising homesexual relationships was struck down in 2018.
But new-age couples are hosting ceremonies where they perform wedding rituals, to affirm their commitment to one another.
Nasarin told the BBC she felt doing a photoshoot like this would be interesting.
In the future, the couple hope to get married.
Nasarin lamented how they still have to use their parents' names on official forms. Their ties with their families are strained.
"At my workplace and elsewhere, I still have to use my father's name," Nasarin told the BBC. "We were at a hospital recently and had to give our fathers' names. It was frustrating."
For the couple, the path to this point was fraught with challenges. They were forced to stay apart after their parents learnt about their relationship.
In May this year, the couple ran away to Kozhikode to live at a shelter run by an LGBTQ rights group. The families came down to shelter too. Fathima's family first claimed they would let them stay together and took them to a relative's home in Ernakulam, The New Indian Express reported. But from there, Fathima was sent to Malappuram.
Adhila then moved the Kerala High Court, seeking to be reunited with her partner. The court ruled in her favour.