He slashed his wrist when we couldn’t meet

*Pooja, 23, a student at Delhi University, told her story to Partners in Law Development.

No place for love

A small town girl from Ludhiana, I was really excited when I first came to Delhi. I put up in a PG accommodation close to my college and soon began settling to the life in the big city. But with the rider, that everything had to be done before the sunset. All PG girls know this rule. You got to get inside the doors at 8 PM or find the doors locked.

I started dating *Suhas towards the end of my first year. He was my classmate and just like most other couples, we found it hard to find places where we could spend time without being embarrassed, disturbed or shelling out a fortune. We also wanted to go beyond a kiss and making out in cinemas halls.

One day Suhas had an idea. He climbed up the wall and sneaked in through the balcony of my PG accommodation. It was risky but we decided to play along and it worked. We finally had some space to ourselves and we made the most of it. Our good times lasted almost three months.

Caught in the action

But one night our PG supervisor saw him climbing up the wall. She first thought he was a thief but understood he was trying to come up to my room! She was furious. We tried to convince her that this was the first time he had attempted to sneak in and that we will not do it ever again. But she did not listen and called up my parents.

I was immediately called home and told I could not go back to Delhi or meet Suhas again. I pleaded and begged and finally managed to convince my parents to send me back. I promised them that I would never meet him again. They relented but my mom came along with me.

My mom was really strict and monitored every move of mine. Even my phone calls were monitored. But I managed to stay in touch with Suhas, sneaking in a few minutes of conversation every day. Things were getting very difficult for me and I told Suhas the same. I wanted to break-up with him. 

Hear Pooja’s story in her own words. Check out the video below: 

Call it quits 

‘If my parents got the slightest hint that we are still meeting they won’t think twice and will pull me out of college!’ I tried explaining to Suhas. But he just would not understand. So, I stopped meeting him.

But Suhas wouldn’t let go. He would message me all night and got unreasonably possessive. If my number was busy for whatever reason, he would taunt, ‘Of course, you have time to talk to others but not me!’ Sometimes he would stand outside my PG all night even while mom was in the PG!

A hard end

Suhas started sending me WhatsApp messages that read, ‘I’ll kill myself.’ Initially I thought that we’ve just broken up and with time he’ll get over it and be okay. But after a few days he sent me a picture of his slashed wrist.

Now this was scary and extremely disturbing. I called his friends and requested them to go check on him before things got worse. Suhas had completely broken down. He did not even appear for his third year exams and went home.

I have not been spoken to Suhas since but our relationship has left me with a bitter feeling.

*To protect the identity, names have been changed and the person in the picture and the video is an actor.

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