not know of her dreams or aspirations.

And this is why, she says, she chose not to tell her parents or brother about Kevin, a man she had been in love with, for two years.

Two years blissfully in love

In 2016, Neenu joined a graduation course in Geology and Water Management at the BK College in Amalagiri in Kottayam district, barely 100 km from her house.

The first time she met Kevin, a mechanic by profession, was two months after she joined the course. Neenu and her friend Anitha* had reached the KSRTC bus stand to take a bus to Kollam. Anitha’s friend had come to see her off, along with Kevin.

“We had spoken to each other once or twice over the phone. At the bus stand we didn’t speak much,sit near the backwaters. This is where we talked about our dreams and our future,” she says.

Kevin was a man of surprises. Though he had shifted to Dubai for a job, he would send her gifts. In February 2018, he had planned a big surprise. He had booked tickets back to Kerala without telling Neenu. On February 14, the couple had a late night phone call. “We had a small argument and he said in jest, ‘Wait, I am there tomorrow and will teach you a lesson’”. Though he had inadvertently given away the surprise, Neenu pretended like she hadn’t heard and welcomed him two days later.

Tensions escalated in May. Neenu's parents had by then put her profile on a matrimonial website and agreed to an alliance.

The young