Guwahati: The ‘Iron Lady’ of Manipur, Irom Chanu Sharmila, is likely to get married to a British citizen soon, Desmond Coutinho 54, who she knew for the last eight years.
Saying that the noted human rights activist is in Madurai in Tamil Nadu, sources close to her family in Imphal however refused to either confirm or deny the information.
Meanwhile, other sources hinted that the marriage is going to be solemnised somewhere in Kerala. They said Sharmila was highly disappointed with the poor response she got in the recently concluded Assembly elections which resulted in a humiliating defeat for her party.
Pointing out that Sharmila had recently applied for a passport to go abroad and meet Coutinho, sources said her request was turned down on some technical grounds. Hence, Sharmila is said to have planned the marriage in Kerala. Desmond Coutinho first contacted Sharmila through a letter after reading about her struggle in the book Burning Bright by Deepti Priya Mehrotra in 2009. Since then, the two have been exchanging letters regularly. He came to Imphal for the first time in February 2011 where he met her for the first time. On many occasions Sharmila was quoted saying, “Yes, he (Coutinho) loves me a lot and cares for me.”
