Mumbai: Bride on wheelchair made to trek two floors to get married at registrar's office

Virali Modi and her family at the marriage registrar’s office in Khar on Monday

A young wheelchair-bound woman had to ascend two floors with the help of her fiancé and friends to tie the knot at the marriage registrar's office in Khar on Monday. After the union was solemnised, the newlywed, Virali Modi, took to social media to underline the apathy of government officials.

Virali was on cloud nine after reaching the registrar's office as she had been planning her big day for at least two months. "We contacted an agent in August to book our appointment. He knew that I was disabled but even then, he didn't inform me about the office being on an upper floor or had a lift or not.When we reached around 11 am I was shocked and deeply disappointed," Virali said.

Virali Modi and her husband with their marriage certificate

She added, "When we reached around 11 am I was shocked and deeply disappointed. I didn't want to be a burden to others, but my fiancé and friends had to take me up the stairs, which were also not in great shape." On Wednesday morning, she posted a series of messages on the microblogging site X. She wrote, "I am disabled and I got married at the Registrar's Office at Khar Mumbai on October 16. The office was on the 2nd floor WITHOUT a lift. They wouldn't come downstairs for the signatures and I had to be carried up two flights of stairs to get married."

She added that the stairs were extremely steep and the railings were loose and rusty. "No one even offered to help nor did they make any kind of accommodations for me, even though I had informed my agent of my disability prior to the appointment. How is this fair? What happened to the Accessible India Campaign? Just because I'm a wheelchair user, do I not have the right to get married to someone I love? What if someone had slipped and what if I had fallen on my wedding day? Who is responsible?"

Virali told mid-day, "After the message went viral, my agent called me and said that the registrar's office doesn't have a portable fingerprint scanner. He even told me that if I paid a fee of Rs 25,000 instead of Rs 10,000, the registrar would have come to my house for registration. This means they have portable machines. I planned a budget marriage, and why should someone pay more just because he or she is disabled and the office doesn't have infrastructure?"

Virali posted on X that she was disheartened that the government and citizens could not accommodate her. "My faith in humanity has been destroyed by this ordeal. I am not a piece of luggage that needs to be carried up two floors. I am a human being and my rights matter! My country should accommodate my needs and the needs of millions of disabled citizens. This was a government building and the people in charge of running this country should lead from the front," she posted.

The message went viral and about 7,000 users reposted it. One social media user, Hetan Ashar, responded, "The same office has property registration on the ground floor and I have never found a clean/ hygienic or decent place to sit while waiting for the government servers to upload data." Another user wrote, "It's very bad for senior citizens also. We as a family faced many hardships in public spaces for many years when my father was in a wheelchair after a road accident and consequently old age illness. So many public spaces are inaccessible."

An employee attached to the registrar's office said, "There is a marriage registrar who is blind and faces lots of issues reaching his office. We have been corresponding with the higher authorities for a long time to change the location of the office to the ground floor. This is not the first such incident. Many handicapped couples and elderly couples face difficulties." The employee also said that a house visit to get a marriage registered can be made for an additional Rs 1,000 and not the amount the agent had mentioned to Virali. Arun Godekar, the marriage registrar, was not available for comment.

Oct 16
Day Virali's messages went viral