In a first of its kind incident that took place in Odisha, a man married a transwoman with the consent of his wife with whom he has a 5 years of marriage life. The news world got shocked knowing about the incident as the law of our country doesn’t allow second marriage till the legal divorce of first marriage. On top of all, the wife who gave permission also decided to stay with her husband even after his marriage with the transwoman and the series events caused various kind of reactions in social media platforms.

The 32 year old man, identified as Fakir married the transwoman named Sangeetha at a temple in Narla located in Odisha’s Kalahandi district with the prior approval of his wife. The man has a two year old son with his wife and fell in love with the transwoman last year after seeing her in the streets of Ambadola in Rayagada district.

According to reports, it was the man’s love at first sight. He witnessed the transwoman for the first time while she was begging at the streets and they exchanged their mobile numbers to keep in touch.

While they were communicating through the phone, the man’s wife who became suspicious over the recent activities of her husband seemingly questioned him. In reply, the husband confessed about his affair with the transwoman and told his wife that he is sincerely in love with her. Reports suggests that the wife agreed to have the transwoman in her family.

After getting the permission, the man solemnized his marriage with the transwoman at a small function in the presence of limited guests, including members of the transgender community, at a temple in Narla.

While talking to media, Senior advocate of Orrisa high court Srinivas Mohanty said that a second marriage, in a Hindu family, is not permissible as per Indian law. “If a second marriage takes place, it is void and amenable to penal action as per Indian law” he said. If a man marries for the second time while his first marriage still exists, the Hindu law terms the first marriage as “subsistence” at the time of the second marriage. It means the man remains married to his first wife even after the second marriage, he added.

Meanwhile, Kamini, president of transgender association in the area who organized the marriage event, said “After the marriage, we also went to the Police station to inform them about the marriage and the Police said they have little to do in the incident”

“If a complaint is filed on any such incident by an aggrieved party, then only we will proceed as per law” Inspector in-charge of Narla Police station told the media.

However, the newly wed couple said that they don’t bother about law and want to lead a peaceful life. “I fell in love with fakir. When elder sister found about our relationship, she accepted me. She agreed to the marriage and I also wanted to marry him. This is so touching for me as no men or women treat transgenders with respect. They treat us like unwanted. But I am happy now” Sangeetha told, according to reports.