A disabled woman from Mumbai showed frustration and disappointment after she had to be carried up two floors of stairs to get married at the Registrar’s Office.
The video of a woman named Virali Modi, which recently got viral on a social media platform X (formerly known as twitter). The woman is a disabled rights activist who got married on October16, at the Registrar’s Office at Khar area. She posted on her social media handle that no one from the office came forward to help her and she had to be carried up two floors as the building was without an elevator facility and the stairs at the office were steep and rusty. Also the railing was loose. No one even offered to help nor did they make any kind of accommodation for her, she had already informed her agent of her disability prior to the appointment, she mentioned.
She asked How is it Fair? What happened to the Accessible India Campaign? What if someone had slipped and what if she would have fallen on her wedding day? Who is responsible?
She was shocked and disheartened to see that the country’s government and its citizens had no facilities to accommodate her,she also mentioned that she lost her trust in humanity after that day, after which she commented that she is not a piece of luggage and her rights matter.
The woman got many supporters through the post who congratulated her and sympathized with her for the problems she had to go through on such a precious day in her life.
The twitter users were amazed as Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who gave good wishes to her and said he would take all the necessary steps against the authorities.
A twitter user got a sharp reply from Virali who tweeted that is was a test for her husband if he can carry her for rest of his life and he passed as she replied that her husband is not her caretaker, she was independent before she met him and she is independent after she got married to him, the government needs to start actually making India accessible to every disabled person’s need.
Every Building, especially the government needs to be accessible for disabled people and senior citizens, that is not just about the registrar, it’s about accessibility, awareness and accommodation.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi wrote that the matter will be taken up definitely after the shameful act of the Registrar Office.
Bharat Garud, joint district registrar, Mumbai Suburban said the couple could have used the home visit facility and had got married at home on their doorsteps.
