Septuagenarian couple to tie knot in Chhattisgarh’s Jashpur district

RAIPUR: A unique wedding in Chhattisgarh’s Jashpur district is awaited on August 16 when a septuagenarian couple would tie nuptial knot, with the whole village witness to the grand celebration. The couple decided to convert their brief friendship into marriage as their spouses are no more, children are married off and they are spending life in loneliness.
Love is in the air fir 75-year-old Ratiya Ram and 70-year-old Jimnabari Bai who are in a live-in relationship presently for past one week at Bagdol village of Bagicha block in Jashpur district.
Excited about the wedding, the couple said that they had met two months ago when they realised life has treated them almost similarly. Both have lost their spouses while Ratiya Ram’s son passed away long back his two daughters are married off to other villages and Jimnabari Bai has no children.
“We met at a cultural programme and befriended each other two months ago but the bonding and chemistry matched so well, we decided to marry,” Ratiya Ram said naively to media reporters.
Hailing from particularly vulnerable tribal group of Pahadi Korwa, they feel that the emptiness in their lives would now fill after 20 years spent in loneliness and would bond on August 16 until they die.

Interestingly, the whole village would be witness to the wedding and contribute for the celebration as the sarpanch Lalit Nagesh has taken responsibility for the expenses.
The elderly couple has been dependent on the pension for their livelihood.
They shared their plan with sarpanch who readily agreed and complemented with financial aid.
While the whole village is talking about the couple’s courage, Ratiya Ram says that he has now got energy in the form of his wife and he will go out and work to earn money.