Ollur: Young couple Dennis Joseph and Beffy Jeeson will keep recalling their race against time throughout their life. Within hours of their wedding, the groom boarded a flight back to the US, temporarily leaving his bride behind.
US citizen Dennis’s visa was to expire soon, and the lockdown almost postponed his wedding once again. The couple, who was to marry on May 17, 2020, had to postpone their wedding to May 15 this year due to the lockdown.
Dennis, hailing from Poonjar and a US citizen, arrived in Kerala for his marriage, but the pandemic again enforced a lockdown. The couple decided to get married under the Cochin Christian Civil Marriage Act, since the Special Marriage Act warranted a notice period of 30 days.
Their plan for getting married under the Christian Act, too, hit a roadblock with the Office of the Sub-Registrar, Kuttanellur, remaining closed due to the lockdown clamped to check the second wave of COVID-19.
The couple waited, anticipating that the government would relax the curbs. But as the lockdown continued, they moved the court.
Considering that Dennis's visa would expire soon, the court ordered the couple’s wedding, and relaxed the norm that required the notification of the marriage on the sub-registrar office’s notice board.
Following the court order, the Sub-Divisional Magistrate delivered the relevant documents to the Sub-Registrar’s Office at Kuttanellur before 10:30am. By noon, the couple got married after completing the necessary formalities.
A few hours later, Dennis left for the US, where he would be arranging the necessary travel documents for Beffy, hailing from Madakkathara in Thrissur.
