Mithu and Gordon want to get married

Hi my name is Gordon, I want marry my longtime partner Mithu, we’ve been together since 2009, I lived in India when I met her. I was there on an environmental project and she helped me. I’ve written her story below

Mithu’s Story

This is a true story. Content warning, child abuse, attempted suicide.

Mithu never got to know her mother, as she died when she was a baby girl of just two years old. Her father remarried, but Mithu’s stepmother mistreated her, with harsh ‘punishments’ including beatings and withholding meals – only when her father was at work, though. When Mithu was 12, she overheard her stepmother planning to take her to Bangladesh where she’d be ‘put to work’. Mithu found out that the ‘work’ would likely be in a brothel, as a sex-worker, not that she knew what sex worker did. Mithu was scared and ran away, to try to find her grandmother whom she trusted. After a few days, and the help of some kind strangers, she did find her grandmother, and she lived with her happily for two years, although her step mum came looking for her again to try to sell her into a brothel.

Sadly, Mithu’s lovely grandmother died and once again she had nowhere safe to live. Someone who knew her grandmother suggested that she meet a man, who at age 28 was twice Mithu’s age, he was looking for a wife, and he said he’d marry her when she turned 18, but in the meantime Mithu could live with the man’s mother. However the man wasn’t as honourable as he could have been and he got her pregnant before she was 18, twice…. and then when she was of age, he lost interest in her and started another relationship. Mithu was distraught and tried to hang herself from the ceiling fan – but luckily she was found and rescued and she continued living with the man’s mother, along with her two babies Bipul and Taniya.

In 2009, when Mithu was 29 years old, an older Englishman arrived in Kolkata to oversee an environmental project. Gordon met Mithu and employed her as a translator and other help with the project – but they fell in love, and Mithu and her children moved into the house Gordon was renting. Gordon still had ties to his family in the UK – he’d been a single parent for nearly 20 years and was still needed ‘back home’ to support his disabled daughter there, so when the project concluded, he had to move back to the UK. He travels to Kolkata as often as he can to see his Indian family – and has helped Mithu and her two children for 15 years with school fees, medical expenses and a loan for Bipul to set up a business, and help buying a scooter for Taniya so she can go to Police Training School. He has even paid to fix her house to stop the Monsoon rain coming in. In 2014 Gordon and Mithu had an unofficial ‘wedding’ – but they both want to do this for real so Mithu can travel to meet Gordon’s family, as getting a tourist visa has been impossible.

Due to Gordon’s tenancy restrictions, he cannot stay away for more than a month. However, getting married in India means he would have to live there for a minimum of two months. But if they went to Sri Lanka, the rules there mean they could legally marry after 5 days. Gordon is on a state pension with no savings, and is asking for financial help to go to Kolkata, and take his darling Mithu for a week in Sri Lanka, and return as a married couple. This would make being together so much easier, and allow the lovers to plan their lives together. Gordon needs to raise £2000 to make his and Mithu’s dream come true. Any donation will be gratefully received, and wedding photos will be sent to all donors as a thank you once Mithu and Gordon are married. Below are some photos of Mithu, Bipul, and Taniya and Gordon